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2nd Sunday of Easter (C) – 17 Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
2nd Sunday of Easter (April 27, 2025)
3rd Sunday of Easter (May 4, 2025)
4th Sunday of Easter (May 11, 2025)
5th Sunday of Easter (May 18, 2025)
6th Sunday of Easter (May 25, 2025)
Ascension (May 29, 2025)
7th Sunday of Easter (June 1, 2025)
Pentecost Sunday (June 8, 2025)
Most Holy Trinity (June 15, 2025)
Body and Blood of Christ (June 22, 2025)
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29, 2025)
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 6, 2025)
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 13, 2025)
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 20, 2025)
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 27, 2025)
April 27 /Second Sunday of Easter
TEN-YEAR-OLD LAURA LENTZ’S FATHER EXAMINED the letter she was writing to her favorite cousin. “All you do is write about yourself,” the future author recalled him saying.
He placed another paper in front of me. … Look out the window and write what you see. … I began my letter again: The crab apple tree never bloomed until we buried our cat underneath it this year. Now the white blossoms look like snow clinging to the branches in springtime. (Freeing the Turkeys)
Filled with flowers, smelling of chrism, and reverberating with Alleluias, our churches are tempting, comfortable places
Hymnals
Aleluya, el Señor Resucitó 557
to lock ourselves in and savor Easter’s joy with one another. But what good is Christ’s resurrection if we don’t get outside of ourselves and “write what we see”?
The world needs to hear the life-altering perspective that the sacraments give to those who believe, so much so that we have a name for this new perception: mystagogy. Thomas shows us how: Look for the wounds, listen for the community’s witness, then tell what you see. Water gives birth to eternal life. Oil anoints royal heirs. A taste of bread and a sip of wine supply the wedding feast. And grief and anguish are not the story’s end. Wherever God’s people dare to look with love at the world’s suffering, there Christ will be in their midst showing them something new. —DM
Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks 524620435620204
Along This Holy Way 743
Be My Hands and Feet 569
Christ Has Risen 505565530
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today 496562523311608462196
Cristo Jesús Resucitó
Easter Song
Halleluya! We Sing Your Praises 668626452738508818
He’s So Real 354
Hymn of Joy
I Am the Bread of Life / Yo So el Pan de Vida 95010089457551029750546449
In the Breaking of the Bread 582 548
Jesus Is Here Right Now 1020934751
No Greater Love 698769701812590324
O Sons and Daughters 507566532312612441468200
Peace I Leave with You 799
Shout for Joy, Loud and Long 605 721
Sing with All the Saints in Glory 526563539317609443881202
That Easter Day with Joy Was Bright 514542619 203
The Strife Is O’er 511525308617440452210
This Is the Feast of Victory 515558520618446834213
We Walk by Faith 674740680550783567298
When We All Get to Heaven 715
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¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Hymnal
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¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Missal
Contemporary Music Resources
“COME, HAVE BREAKFAST.” HOW OFTEN HAVE we heard those words or something similar in our lifetime? Mothers, grandmothers, dads, lovers, hosts, all inviting us to eat. Strangers and soon-to-be-friends asking us to stay a while. Spouses, siblings, and roommates bidding us to linger a bit over coffee before the busyness of the day takes us from them. For many, the procession after Mass to Sunday brunch is also sacred. How ordinary is the Lord’s invitation to his friends! And yet how extraordinary the moment became. Jesus’s offer was not merely to eat some food after a long night’s work. It was a summons to his dearest companions—to those with whom he
Hymnals
Aleluya! Cristo Resucitó
May 4 /Third Sunday of Easter W4 Worship 4th Edition G4 Gather 4th Edition
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
Alleluia, Alleluia! Let the Holy Anthem Rise
had broken bread so many times before—to break their fast of bitter shame that kept them from tasting the sweetness of forgiveness. Break their fast of doubt and unworthiness so they would hunger no longer for purpose and mission. Break their fast of loneliness by being present even as they grieved. Every Eucharist is a breaking of a fast—indeed, in a literal sense, though most forgo the traditional pre-Communion fast. But it can be so much more if we jump all in, as Simon Peter did, lightly clad of our burdens but bringing to the meal what has been given in abundance—our very lives. So much can happen over breakfast. —DM
G3 Gather 3rd Edition
Is the Name of Jesus
Heart of a Shepherd / El Corazón de un Buen Pastor
OIF One in Faith
CCH2 Catholic Community Hymnal 2nd Edition
CEL/H
¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Hymnal
CEL/M
¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Missal
Contemporary Music Resources
May
AS WE MOVE INTO THE MIDDLE of the Easter season and, for some, the warmth of summer, we might be feeling a post-meal nap coming on following last week’s breakfast on the beach with Jesus. Today’s short Gospel passage may even lull us with its soothing sentiments: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27), and “The Father and I are one” (v 30). Surrounded by lilies beginning to wilt along with our Alleluias, it’s easy to forget the fatal consequences of Jesus’s words. But now is not the time to snooze.
The very next verse in John’s Gospel after today’s passage is this: “The Jews again picked up rocks to stone him.” What to
Hymnals
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
Around the Throne a Glorious Band 907
Do Not Be Afraid
Alleluia
Glorious Is the Name of Jesus
Good Shepherd, You Know Us
Heart of a Shepherd / El Corazón de un Buen Pastor
Heaven Is Singing for Joy / El Cielo
Canta Alegría
I Am Thine
In the Arms of the Shepherd
My Shepherd Will Supply
Oh Jesús, Oh Buen Pastor!
Regina Coeli/O Queen of Heaven
Shepherd of My Heart
Shepherd of Souls, in Love, Come, Feed Us
With a Shepherd’s Care
You Are Called to Tell the Story
You Satisfy
You, Lord, Are
us had sounded like reassuring words were enough to rile the crowd to try to murder him … again! And Jesus knew it would.
The Good Shepherd discourse, from which today’s passage comes, is sandwiched between Jesus’s healing of the man born blind, when the Pharisees took offense at his words about their own blindness, and the raising of Lazarus, after which the plot to kill Jesus intensifies.
Jesus already had experienced violence against him. We call him “good” because he knew the risk he was taking through his words and actions and chose to shepherd his flock still. May we, too, follow his example. —DM
Eres
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Contemporary
May 18 /Fifth Sunday of Easter
“THIS IS HOW ALL WILL KNOW that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).
At the beginning of this chapter from John’s Gospel, Jesus showed his disciples what love for one another looks like: If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do. (Jn 13:14–15)
Soon after modeling this kind of love, Jesus revealed that one of his own would betray him. Imagine! Jesus had knowingly washed his betrayer’s feet, choosing to love him even still. This,
Hymnals
too, was an example for his disciples. All this would lead to Jesus’s greatest example of love beyond reason, the cross.
To love those we like and get along with is easy and not an example of anything new. But love that requires sacrifice on our part, that bids us to stoop down and wash the feet of those who would cause us many hardships—that is the kind of love that creates a new world and establishes a different kind of order, logic, and reason. Not by skill or intelligence, status or piety will we be known as followers of Christ but by the love we show one another without condition. —DM
¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Hymnal
CEL/M
¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Missal
Contemporary Music Resources
May 25 /Sixth Sunday of Easter
THE READING TODAY FROM THE ACTS of the Apostles recounts an early church conflict. The new Christian community could have fractured at its beginnings if it had not been committed to staying together. Jesus had not left them a manual for dealing with future difficulties. But he did leave them the Holy Spirit to guide them, his peace to quell their fears, and a community of faith to remind them of his promises and example of love.
The Bible is not a handbook for troubleshooting today’s problems. Rather it gives us a new orientation of life that keeps us united in Christ in every age. The early church modeled for us how to listen deeply to one another, humbly embrace change,
Hymnals
Will Be Well
Be Joyful, Mary, Heavenly Queen
Breathe on Me, O Breath of God (Bolduc)
Christ Is Alive
Come Down, O Love Divine
Come, Holy Ghost
Come, Spirit Blest/Ven, Creador
Dona Nobis Pacem
Flowing River
Help Us Accept Each Other
His Eye Is on the Sparrow
Hymn of Joy
I Am the Way
I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light
I Will Be With You
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
Make Me a Channel of Your
Peace with the Father
and Eat
Where Charity and Love Abide (Thompson)
and, most of all, stay together through turmoil. Commitment to unity does not mean uniformity or absence of conflict. It means being willing to walk together through the conflict for as long as it takes to encounter the kind of peace Jesus gives. Disagreements will always remain because the church is a body made up of different members. But what also remains is the Spirit that holds us fast to one another. Our baptism tethers us to Christ, and the Eucharist strengthens that bond. As Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit will guide us in all things, so let us remain anchored in his love. —DM
Contemporary Music Resources
I
WC/M
We Celebrate Hymnal Missal
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¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Hymnal
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¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Missal
READINGS
Psalm 67:2–3, 5, 6, 8 (Rx 4 or Alleluia)
Revelation 21:10–14, 22–23 John 14:23–29
AS A LITURGICAL FEAST, THE SOLEMNITY of the Ascension is primarily the beginning of a nine-day novena in preparation for the Solemnity of Pentecost. (This is clearer in dioceses where Ascension remains on the Thursday of the sixth week of Easter.) Liminality, that waiting in the in-between space, is counter to our culture of immediacy. We like to have access on demand, results made effortless by artificial means. Our doom-scrolling habits have made us an impatient people. But the mandate of the Ascension leading us to the great sending out of Pentecost calls us to step back, contemplate, and listen intently together: “And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on
Hymnals
A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing
Sing to Jesus
Be Not Afraid
Come Down, O Love Divine
Hail, Thee, Festival
Halleluya!
I
I Send
I
In Christ There Is No East or West
To
high” (Lk 24:49).
When our world gets turned upside-down, we can react with our natural instincts to fight or flee. In those knee-jerk responses, we panic and try to save ourselves or recede into fear and paralysis. But the paschal mystery opens up a better way: a communal, intentional contemplation and deep trust in the slow work of the Spirit whom Jesus promised would be with us, always.
As people of the paschal mystery, let us have faith in Christ— and in one another—enough to wait, listen, and move slowly and deliberately together instead of acting on our own. —DM
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¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Hymnal
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¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Missal
Contemporary Music Resources
June 1 /Seventh Sunday of Easter
THE MASSES OF THE SUNDAYS OF Easter time are also called the “Masses for the neophytes,” those newly baptized. These “new Christs” have been grafted to him through baptism. As their name suggests, they are like new plants that need careful tending. Too much water too soon, and roots may rot; but not enough experience in the highs and lows of faith can weaken those roots and keep these saplings from growing hardy.
The Christian community can help nurture these neophytes by continuing to be present to them, sharing their own experiences of dying to their old life in order to rise with Christ. For the heart of a resurrected life is offering praise to God even when
Hymnals
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus
God of All People God, We Praise You
He Who Walked upon the Water
In
Jesus Promises Communion
Live in Me
Miren Que Bueno / O, Look and Wonder
O Holy City, Seen of John
Where Charity and Love Abide (Thompson)
it’s hard. At the brink of death, both Stephen and Jesus praised God because their faith was their central orientation of life, constantly drawing them ever closer to the Father. That union was Jesus’s prayer for his followers—that they may all be one. In the Eucharist, Communion is more than nourishment. It is our public commitment to offer ourselves completely to the Father for the sake of unity with others in Christ. Not all can rise to wear the crown of martyrdom. But all of us who share the Eucharist are called to lay down our lives each day so Christ might live more fully in us. —DM
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¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Hymnal
CEL/M
¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Missal
Contemporary Music Resources
WHENEVER THE HOLY SPIRIT IS PRESENT and active, something changes. In the Eucharist, simple bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. With a blessing, ordinary water becomes a font for eternal life. And within that font, everyday people become priests, prophets, and royal heirs of God. Where the Spirit is, change happens. However, change also means that something dies. Ignorance gives way to wisdom and understanding; indifference and apathy to counsel and right judgment. Limited human perception opens to insight into divine will; and gloom, despair, and lifelessness give way to reverence, wonder, and awe.
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the Waking of Our Hearts
Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song / Vayan con Dios!
Lord, Send Out Your Spirit / Senor, Envia Tu Espiritu
O
Veni
Veni
Veni
Pentecost is the culminating moment of the paschal mystery in human history. From here, nothing will ever be the same again. To be people of the paschal mystery is to confess that death has not only been transformed into life but into life with a new purpose. When we ask the Spirit to come and fill our hearts, it is for the purpose of kindling the fire of Christ’s mission within us. Every time the Spirit is sent forth, we, too, are sent to co-labor with the Spirit in renewing the face of the Earth. Whenever the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ, we who share in it are also changed so that we may bear Christ to the world. —DM
Bautízame, Señor, con Tu Espíritu
por Siempre: Sal 145(144)
Come, Holy Ghost
Come,
Come,
Es Mi Cuerpo (A los Hombres Amó Dios)
WC/M We Celebrate Hymnal Missal
WS Word and Song
CEL/H
¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Hymnal
CEL/M
¡Celebremos! (Let Us Celebrate!) Missal
Send
VIGIL [62]
Genesis 11:1–9 or Exodus 19:3–8a, 16–20b or Ezekiel 37:1–14 or Joel 3:1–5
Psalm 104:1–2, 24, 35, 27–28, 29, 30 (Rx see 30 or Alleluia)
Romans 8:22–27 John 7:37–39
EXTENDED VIGIL [62] Acts of the Apostles 2:1–11
Use all readings above
DAY [63]
Contemporary Music Resources
Psalm 104:1, 24, 29–30, 31, 34 (Rx see 30 or Alleluia)
1 Corinthians 12:3b–7, 12–13 or Galatians 5:16–25
Sequence: Veni, Sancte Spiritus
John 20:19–23 or 15:26–27; 16:12–15
TRY TO COUNT HOW MANY TIMES we invoke the Trinity at Mass. We not only speak but also sign ourselves in the name of the Trinity. In the priest’s greeting, we remember our participation in the life of the Trinity: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The Gloria praises the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit. And every collect (opening prayer) concludes with “through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.” And that’s just the introductory rites!
At the end of Mass, after bowing down for the blessing, we are blessed again with the Sign of the Cross over our bodies. This bowing is a sign of humility, not shame; of receptivity, not unworthiness. As crowns and kisses are placed upon bowed heads, so too do we receive the Trinity’s full-bodied embrace when we stoop to serve. Swept into the love of Father, Son, and Spirit, we bow as a sign of that love and service. In their name and by their sign, we are crowned with glory—from head to gut and shoulder to shoulder—not to be praised but to be good stewards of God’s handiwork. —DM
Hymnals
Come Now, Almighty
Come, Join the Dance of the Trinity
Father, I Adore You
Father, Lord of All Creation
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I/We
On This Day, the First of Days
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¡Celebremos! (Let
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¡Celebremos! (Let
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