Leader:
┼ In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
Leader:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be God forever.
The response is: Blessed be God forever.
All: Blessed be God forever.
Leader:
We gather together as a family to celebrate Easter,
the greatest day of the Church year
One with all of our sisters and brothers throughout the world,
let us now listen to God's Word and join in prayer.
All: Amen.
Leader:
God has given us new birth by water and the Holy Spirit.
May we stay faithful to Jesus for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
Leader: Let us pray
Leader:
Gracious God,
By raising Jesus from the dead you conquered death.
Hear us as we ask your blessing
for all those who are sick in our world today.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
Reader 1:
The first disciples did not understand what we do.
They thought Jesus was dead and buried in a tomb.
We know that Jesus is risen! Alleluia!
Reader 1:
We now do this action prayer together:
May the Lord be on my mind, ┼
on my lips, ┼
and in my heart ┼
as we hear the Gospel today.
A reading from the holy Gospel of John.
If you'd like to read the Gospel as a group, click on the "Parts" tab. Or read out of your own Bible (John 20:1-9).
Narrator:
She had oils to anoint his body and prepare it to be buried.
Early in the morning on the third day after Jesus died, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb.
Mary Magdalene: Someone has removed the stone! I need to tell Peter.
Narrator: Mary Magdalene hurried to find Peter and the other disciples.
Mary Magdalene:
The Lord has been taken away from his tomb
and we don’t know where they have taken him.
Quick! Come and see! Someone has moved the stone.
Peter: Come with me! Let’s go and see.
Narrator:
Peter was the slower runner. When he finally got there he said,
Peter and John, the disciple that Jesus loved, ran to the tomb.
Peter:
There is the cloth that covered his face.
Look! Jesus is not here, but there are pieces of cloth that wrapped his body.
John: I have seen this with my own eyes and I believe that Jesus is risen.
Reader 1:
She had oils to anoint his body and prepare it to be buried.
She saw that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
Early in the morning on the third day after Jesus died, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb.
Mary Magdalene hurried to find Peter and the other disciples.
"Someone has moved the stone.
The Lord has been taken away from his tomb
and we don’t know where they have taken him."
"Quick! Come and see!" she said.
Peter was the slower runner.
The first disciple bent over and saw the strips of linen cloth lying inside the tomb,
but he did not go in.
Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved ran to the tomb.
He also saw the piece of cloth that had been used to cover Jesus' face.
The other disciple then went into the tomb, and when he saw it, he believed.
When Peter finally got there, he went into the tomb and saw the strips of cloth.
Reader 2:
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.
Reader 2: The Gospel of the Lord.
All: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Or access full slideshow online
On Easter Sunday we celebrate the greatest mystery of our Christian faith—that Jesus, who was crucified and died on the cross, rose again from the dead.
Leader: Now let’s pray together to God for what we need.
Reader 2:
For all those who are sick now,
especially with the coronavirus,
that they may know that God is with them
and they are not alone,
let us pray to the Lord.
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
Reader 2:
For everyone helping the sick now,
especially those on the front lines of this crisis,
that God will give them wisdom for how best to help,
let us pray to the Lord.
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
Reader 2:
For those who are worried, lonely, or scared now,
let us pray to the Lord.
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
Reader 2: For what else and for who else shall we pray?
Leader: Jesus taught us to call God our Father, and so we have the courage to say:
All:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Leader: Let us now offer each other a sign of peace.
Leader: The response is: Lord, bring us closer to you!
All: Lord, bring us closer to you!
Leader:
Lord our God,
we wish we could gather today with our parish community,
but we gather here out of love and concern for others.
You teach us that when two or three are gathered in your name,
you are there.
Together, we pray:
All: Lord, bring us closer to you!
Leader:
Christ Jesus, you are present in a special way
when bread and wine are turned into your Body and Blood.
Since we cannot receive you in this way today,
We ask that you enter our hearts
so that we may receive you spiritually.
Together, we pray:
All: Lord, bring us closer to you!
Leader:
Lord our God,
watch over your family
and keep us safe in your care,
for all our hope is in you.
All: Lord, bring us closer to you!
Leader: Christ is risen, alleluia, alleluia!
All: Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia!
Join us again next Sunday for another prayer service!
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The Pastoral Center is a small, family-based ministry and business (pictured: Paul, Madeleine, Ann, and Rachel). This is our full-time job and ministry, and it's the way we pay our bills. We do not receive funding from any parish or diocese, except through resource sales (which are now largely suspended indefinitely). You are under no obligation, but we are very grateful for any contributions!
Portions excerpted from or adapted from Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest: Leader's Guide © 1993 United States Catholic Conference (USCC), 3211 Fourth Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017-1194 USA. All rights reserved.
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