15 April 2026 (Wednesday) | Easter Weekday | Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

15 April 2026 (Wednesday)

Easter Weekday.
Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Acts 5: 17-26
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 ℟.7a or: ℟. Alleluia.
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia: John 3: 16
Gospel: John 3: 16-21
Liturgical year 2026 (Cycle A/II)
Liturgical color: White or Gold.

First Reading : Acts 5:17‐26

(Reader) A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

The high priest intervened with all his supporters from the party of the Sadducees. Prompted by jealousy, they arrested the apostles and had them put in the common gaol.
  But at night the angel of the Lord opened the prison gates and said as he led them out, ‘Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new Life.’ They did as they were told; they went into the Temple at dawn and began to preach.
  When the high priest arrived, he and his supporters convened the Sanhedrin – this was the full Senate of Israel – and sent to the gaol for them to be brought. But when the officials arrived at the prison they found they were not inside, so they went back and reported, ‘We found the gaol securely locked and the warders on duty at the gates, but when we unlocked the door we found no one inside.’ When the captain of the Temple and the chief priests heard this news they wondered what this could mean. Then a man arrived with fresh news. ‘At this very moment’ he said, ‘the men you imprisoned are in the Temple. They are standing there preaching to the people.’ The captain went with his men and fetched them. They were afraid to use force in case the people stoned them.

(Reader) The Word of the Lord.
(All) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 ℟.7a or: ℟. Alleluia.
℟. (7a) This poor man called and the Lord heard him. or: ℟. Alleluia.

This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
I will bless the Lord at all times,
  his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
  The humble shall hear and be glad.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
Glorify the Lord with me.
  Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
  from all my terrors he set me free.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
Look towards him and be radiant;
  let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
  and rescued him from all his distress.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
The angel of the Lord is encamped
  around those who revere him, to rescue them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
  He is happy who seeks refuge in him.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!

Gospel acclamation: Alleluia: John 3: 16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
16 God so love the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
(16. For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.17. For God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.)

Gospel : John 3:16‐21

(Reader) A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.
(All) Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.
No one who believes in him will be condemned;
but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already,
because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son.
On these grounds is sentence pronounced:
that though the light has come into the world
men have shown they prefer darkness to the light
because their deeds were evil.
And indeed, everybody who does wrong
hates the light and avoids it,
for fear his actions should be exposed;
but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light,
so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.’

(Reader) The Gospel of the Lord.
(All) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

For our reflection today:

“God so loved the world that he gave his Only-Begotten Son”. This is one of the central verses of the Gospel. The subject is God the Father, origin of the whole creating and redeeming mystery. The verbs “to love” and “to give” indicate a decisive and definitive act that expresses the radicalism with which God approached man in love, even to the total gift, crossing the threshold of our ultimate solitude, throwing himself into the abyss of our extreme abandonment, going beyond the door of death. The object and beneficiary of divine love is the world, namely, humanity. It is a word that erases completely the idea of a distant God alien to man's journey and reveals, rather, his true face. He gave us his Son out of love, to be the near God, to make us feel his presence, to come to meet us and carry us in his love so that the whole of life might be enlivened by this divine love. The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give life. God does not domineer but loves without measure. He does not express his omnipotence in punishment, but in mercy and in forgiveness. Understanding all this means entering into the mystery of salvation. Jesus came to save, not to condemn; with the sacrifice of the Cross he reveals the loving face of God. (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, 4 November 2010)

MORNING MASS IN THE CHAPEL OF THEDOMUS SANCTAE MARTHAE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
"Let the light of God enter in usso we do not become like bats in the darkness"Wednesday, 22 April 2020

Introduction

At this moment, in which unity between ourselves and nations is very necessary, let us pray today for Europe, so that Europe might succeed in creating this fraternal unity the founding fathers dreamt of.

Homily

This passage from the Gospel of John, chapter 3 (see Jn 16-21), the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus, is a true theological treatise. Everything is here: kerygma, catechesis, theological reflection, parenesis… everything is here. Every time that we read it we find more wealth, more explanations, more things that help us to understand God’s revelation. It would be good to read it many times in order to draw near to the mystery of the Redemption.

Today I will take just two points from all of this, two points that are in today’s passage. The first is the revelation of God’s love. God loves us, and He loves us madly, as one of the saints used to say. God’s love appears to be madness. He loves us: “God loved the world so much that He gave us His only son” (Jn 3:16). And He sent Him to die on the cross. And every time that we look at the cross, we find this love. The crucifix is truly the great book of God’s love. It is not an object to put here or to place there, beautiful, not so beautiful, an antique, or modern, no. It is truly an expression of God’s love. God loved us so much that He sent His Son, who annihilated Himself to the point of death on the cross, out of love. “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son” (see v. 16).

How many people, how many Christians spend time gazing at the crucifix? There they find everything, because they have understood, the Holy Spirit makes them understand that all knowledge, all God’s love, all Christian wisdom is there. Paul speaks about this, explaining that all his human reasoning served him up to a certain point, but the true reasoning, the most beautiful way of thinking, but also that which explains everything, is Christ’s cross: it is a scandal (see I Cor 1:23), it is folly, but it is the way. And this is God’s love. “God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son”. And why? “So that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life”. The love of God, who wants His children to be with Him.

To look at the Cross in silence, to look at the wounds, to look at the heart of Jesus, to look at it all: Christ crucified, the Son of God, annihilated, humiliated… out of love. This is the first point that today we are shown by this treatise of theology, which is Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus.

The second point that will help us, too: “The light has come into the world, but men have shown they prefer darkness to the light because their deeds were evil” (Jn 3:19). Jesus also picks up this theme of light. There are people - we too, very often - who cannot live in the light because they are accustomed to the dark. The light blinds them, they are unable to see. They are humans who are like bats, which only know how to move about at night. And we too, when we are in sin, are in this state: we cannot tolerate the light. It is more convenient for us to live in darkness. The light hits us in the face, it makes us see what we do not want to see. What’s worse is that the eyes of the soul, the more they live in darkness, the more they grow accustomed to it, and become ignorant of what light is. One loses a sense of light through growing more accustomed to the darkness. And many human scandals, so much corruption, prove this. Those who are corrupt do not know what the light is, they do not know. We too, when we are in a state of sin, distance ourselves from the Lord and become blind. We feel better when we are in the darkness and we move about in this way, without seeing, like the blind, as best we can.

Let us allow the love of God, who sent Jesus to save us, enter into us, and may the light that Jesus brings (see v. 19), the light of the Spirit, enter into us and help us to see things with God’s light, with the true light and not the shadows that the lord of darkness gives us.

Two things, today: the love of God in Christ, in the crucifix, in daily life. And the question we can ask ourselves every day: “Do I walk in the light or do I walk in the darkness? Am I a child of God or have I ended up like a poor bat?”

Spiritual Communion:
Those who cannot receive communion can now make a spiritual communion:
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love you above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if you were already there, and I unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
(Saint Alphonsus Liguori)

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Pelayan Atasan Tertinggi / Most High Servant,
Yesus, Maria, Yusuf Pelayanan Kasih / Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love 
(Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)

My vocation is Blessed and Saints.

"I am the most humble of all the Saints in Heaven" Mary, Mother of God."

"I am the handmaid of the Lord, said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me."

Mother Mary is the most humble Saint in Heaven and she is also the Mother of God for us all
(Luke 1:38)