First Reading

Acts of the Apostles (Acts 10: 34a, 37-43)

We ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

Peter proceeded to speak and said:

“You know what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.
We are witnesses of all that he did
both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.
This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible,
not to all the people, but to us,
the witnesses chosen by God in advance,
who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
He commissioned us to preach to the people
and testify that he is the one appointed by God
as judge of the living and the dead.
To him all the prophets bear witness,
that everyone who believes in him
will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

(Ps 118: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23)

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is goof,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”

“The right hand of the LORD has struck with power;
the right hand of the LORD is exalted.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.”

The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.

Second Reading

Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians (Col 3: 1-4)

Seek the things that are above, where Christ is.

Brothers and sisters:
If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.

— The word of the Lord.

Or

First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 5: 6b-8)

Cleanse out old leaven that you may be new dough.

Brothers and sisters:
Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?
Clear out the old yeast,
so that you may become a fresh batch of dough,
inasmuch as you are unleavened.
For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,
not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

— The word of the Lord.

Sequence

Victimæ paschali laudes

Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems;
Christ, who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:
The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living,
The glory of Jesus’ resurrection;
bright angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;
to Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed; let us then feast with joy in the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 20: 1-9)

He must rise from the dead.

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,

“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”

So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead.

— The Gospel of the Lord.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew (Mt. 28: 1-10)

He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee.

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
And behold, there was a great earthquake;
for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.
His appearance was like lightning
and his clothing was white as snow.
The guards were shaken with fear of him
and became like dead men.
Then the angel said to the women in reply,

“Do not be afraid!
I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.
He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.
Come and see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly and tell his disciples,
‘He has been raised from the dead,
and he is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see him.’
Behold, I have told you.”

Then they went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce this to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
Then Jesus said to them,

“Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee,
and there they will see me.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke (Lk 24: 13-35)

They recognized him in the breaking of the bread.

Now that very day
two of them were going to a village
seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,

“What are you discussing as you walk along?”

They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,

“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”

And he replied to them,

“What sort of things?”

They said to him,

“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers
both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.

Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body;
they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”

And he said to them,

“Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him,

“Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening
and the day is almost over.”

So he went in to stay with them.

And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,

“Were not our hearts burning [within us]
while he spoke to us on the way
and opened the scriptures to us?”

So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them
who were saying,

“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”

Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

— The Gospel of the Lord.

Abortion is a mortal sin because it insults God, the Creator of life; depriving man of the right to life. Sex is love, not a game. Natural contraception is recommended by the Church. Educators have a great duty to teach life and love; people who wish to build a marriage must be prepared in every respect. Catechesis on abortion', with P. Sedera Joseph Rakotoarisoa.

March 26, 2024 — Tuesday of Holy Week — Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father; you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter — Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 13: 21-33, 36-38)

Abortion is forbidden by the Church as an obscene sin. Pope John II declared: "Deliberate abortion as a goal or as a means is a serious mental disorder because it kills innocent people at will. Abortion or complicity in abortion is a crime which entails ineligibility for the sacrament. Catechesis on abortion', with P. Sedera Joseph Rakotoarisoa.

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