This week’s Readings and Sermon for the Sunday after Easter
The Collect for this Sunday
Almighty Father, you have given your only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification: grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 118, verses 14 to 29
The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. 15 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: ‘The right hand of the Lord does valiantly; 16 the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.’ 17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. 18 The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.25 Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! 26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you. 29 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The Old Testament Lesson for this Sunday is from the book of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 5, verses 27 to 32
When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, 28 saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.’ 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Saviour, so that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of the Revelation of St John, Chapter 1, verses 4 to 8
John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
7 Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. 8 ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel according to St John, Chapter 20, verses 19 to 31
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Luke Glory to You, o Lord !
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ 24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ 27 Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ 28 Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ 29 Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
This is the Gospel of the Lord Praise to You, o Christ !
There will not be a sermon during the service this Sunday, but Rev Samuel Hameem has provided this reflection
“May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you O Lord my refuge and my redeemer amen.”
Today is the second Sunday of Easter, and in some churches, it is a feast honoring two of the Apostles: Philip and James the Lesser. We know very little about James beyond the fact that he was chosen by Jesus for the ministry, and that one of his letters is included in the New Testament. Philip on the hand, preached the Gospel in Greece, Phrygia, and Syria. According to some traditions, he and Saint Bartholomew were crucified upside down, and Philip was preaching from the cross until he died.
In the Gospel according to John 14:8-9, we could encounter a moment between Jesus and Philip, that feels like a rebuke, but it is a rebuke that is full of love. In the reading, Jesus says to him,
“Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
If we look at Jesus’ earthly life, we could say that he indeed spent much time with his disciples: they travelled, prayed, and eat often. Jesus’ words come from a place of deep familiarity, a lived and personal relationship with Philip. Because if we look at the Jesus’ words, “Have I been with you all this time…”. Reflect on these words of Jesus, imagine he is saying this to us. Could he say this truthfully? Do we spend meaningful time with him? Do we read the Word of God, speak to him from our heart, truly prayer, and listen for his voice?
And in the encounter with Philip, he said, “…and you still do not know me?” This is a humble truth that each of us must be willing to admit. We always have room to know the Lord more intimately. There is not limit to transformation that can occur when we grow in knowledge and love of Jesus.
Jesus continues by saying that, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” So, we need to ask ourselves, do we know the Father? Do we experience his love, providence, his will for our lives?
As I mentioned earlier that, Jesus’ words to Philip are not harsh, they are gentle rebuke, spoken in love. Today he is talking to us, he is speaking these words to us, not to discourage or insult us, but to invite to have relationship with him and with the father.
Reflect today on these loving questions as if Jesus is speaking to us directly. Let his words stir within ourselves on a personal level, we can understand that, the more we know Jesus, the more we come to know the Father.
God bless you all. Amen.
The Post Communion Prayer for this Sunday
Lord God our Father, through our Saviour Jesus Christ you have assured your children of eternal life and in baptism have made us one with him: deliver us from the death of sin and raise us to new life in your love, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen