April 12, 2026
Revised Common Lectionary
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31
Lectionary for Mass (RC)
Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31
As the risen One appears in the midst of fearful disciples gathered behind locked doors, he speaks these simple words: “Peace be with you.” Not once, but twice: “Peace be with you.”
How desperately we long to experience that peace today! Into every locked room where fear, grief, or despair has taken hold — where wars rage, where immigrants live in terror, where bitter divisions poison our common life — we hear the risen Christ speak words of peace.
He shows the disciples his hands and his side, revealing the wounds that demonstrate that it is indeed Jesus himself who is with them. He meets their fear by showing his wounds rather than concealing them. The risen One points to the marks of suffering as the very evidence of his presence — and that is profound reassurance.
When Jesus returns the following Sunday to the same group of disciples, including now the previously absent Thomas, he offers that same greeting: “Peace be with you.” He shows Thomas his hands and side, the same evidence provided one week earlier to the other disciples. The risen One responds to a disciple’s doubt by once again extending compassionate reassurance.
The author of First Peter also speaks words of encouragement, addressing a group of marginalized believers who were all too familiar with rejection by family and friends and of persecution within society. Even though they had experienced suffering, they could rejoice because in baptism they had received “a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” In the promise of a new birth, this community of believers was likewise receiving words of reassurance.
Fear, doubt, and suffering are no strangers to disciples of Jesus today.
To those whose lives are disrupted by armed conflict or financial insecurity, the risen One speaks today with words of hope and encouragement.
To those who question their reason to have faith or to hope in God, the risen One appears this day in the community of believers — just as Thomas encountered Christ only when he returned to gather with the others.
To those who suffer because of illness or the judgments of others, God promises an “inheritance that is imperishable” and a joy that flows from baptismal immersion into Christ’s resurrection.
In whatever locked room we may find ourselves today, to all of us Jesus speaks those same reassuring words: “Peace be with you.” Now he calls us to go out, to proclaim that peace in every personal encounter and to work for it in a world torn apart by war and division.
A Hymn for Today: “Aleluya, el Señor resucitó / Alleluia! Christ is risen from the dead”
This anonymous Spanish hymn text, translated into English by Mary Louise Bringle and sung to the Honduras Alleluia, joyfully expresses the reassurance proclaimed in today’s readings from First Peter and the Gospel of John. Because Christ is risen, we can be confident in God’s steadfast love even in the face of fear, doubt, sin, and suffering. Listen here and here.
Estribillo/Refrain:
Aleluya, aleluya, aleluya, aleluya,
Aleluya, aleluya, ¡el Señor resucitó!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia,
Alleluia, alleluia, Christ is risen from the dead!
Estrofas/Verses
El Señor resucitó,
cantemos con alegría.
Demos gracias al Señor, aleluya.
Jesus Christ is truly risen,
and he walks among the living.
To God, our glad thanksgiving, alleluia.
Mi pecado redimió
Cristo Dios, subiendo al cielo,
y por fin ahora no temo, aleluya.
Nevermore will we be fearful.
All our sins have been forgiven
by Christ, who reigns in heaven, alleluia.
Ahora tengo la esperanza
de que Dios siempre persona,
que Cristo nunca abandona, aleluya.
We are hopeful and live trusting
that God’s children are not abandoned,
for in Christ all sins are pardoned, alleluia.
Text: Anonymous; tr. by Mary Louise Bringle. © 2012, GIA Publications, Inc. Used by permission under OneLicense #A-729857.
Tune: Honduras Alleluia, trad.
Image credit: Christ shows himself to Thomas, Rowan LeCompte and Irene LeCompte, mosaic, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.
“Word and Song: A Lectionary Reflection” is written by the Executive Director of The Hymn Society, Rev. Dr. Mike McMahon. For his full bio, click here and scroll down to the “staff” section.
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