A PRAYER SERVICE AT HOME
WHEN ATTENDANCE AT MASS IS NOT POSSIBLE

Easter Sunday - April 4, 2021

In these times when not all feel free to gather together as a Christian Community to celebrate Mass, let us unite ourselves spiritually to the Mass as it is being celebrated in our churches.

One way you can do this by joining broadcast Masses on radio, television, or via the internet.

This resource is offered to provide a ritual by which families, "the domestic church," can keep the Lord's day holy by joining together to celebrate part of the Church's liturgy at home. Ideally, the head of the family will lead the service; other members of the family should take on roles as readers.

It would be appropriate to celebrate this service at the usual time the family would attend Mass. If possible, prepare a suitable prayer space with a crucifix, holy picture and/or a candle or two. If the family is blessed with musical talent, hymns would be appropriate.

INTRODUCTORY RITES

GREETING

PENITENTIAL ACT

  • Leader:
    • Where Jesus is, there will his servants also be,
    giving thanks and praise to God.

After a pause for silent reflection, the leader continues.

  • Leader:
    • Lord Jesus, you triumph over death.
    Lord, have mercy.

  • All:
    • Lord, have mercy.
  • Leader
    • Christ Jesus, you raise your people to new life.
    Christ, have mercy.

  • All:
    • Christ, have mercy.
  • Leader
    • Lord Jesus, you are our risen hope.
    Lord, have mercy.

  • All:
    • Lord, have mercy.

GLORY TO GOD

  • All:

    • Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace to people of good will.

    We praise you, we bless you
    we adore you, we glorify you,
    we give you thanks for your great glory,
    Lord God, heavenly King,
    O God, almighty Father.

    Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
    Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
    you take away the sins of the world,
       have mercy on us;
    you take away the sins of the world,
       receive our prayer;
    you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
       have mercy on us.

    For you alone are the Holy One,
    you alone are the Lord,
    you alone are the Most High, (Jesus),
    Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,
    in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

COLLECT

  • Leader:
    • Let us pray.

    O God, who on this day,
    through your Only Begotten Son,
    have conquered death
    and unlocked for us the path to eternity,
    grant, we pray, that we who keep
    the solemnity of the Lord's Resurrection
    may, through the renewal brought by your Spirit,
    rise up in the light of life.
    Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
    who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
    God, for ever and ever. Amen.

  • All:
    • Amen.

THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

FIRST READING

  • Reader:
    • A reading from the Book of Acts

    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.

  • All:
    • Thanks be to God.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

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

  • All:
    • This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
  • Reader:
    • Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his mercy endures forever.
    Let the house of Israel say,
    "His mercy endures forever."
  • All:
    • This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
  • Reader:
    • "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."
  • All:
    • This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
  • Reader:
    • The stone which the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.
    By the Lord has this been done;
    it is wonderful in our eyes.
  • All:
    • This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
  • Reader:
    • I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
    in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
    "You who fear the Lord, praise him;
    all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
    revere him, all you descendants of Israel!"
  • All:
    • This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.

SECOND READING

  • Reader:
    • A reading from the book of Colossians
    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.

  • Leader:
    • The Word of the Lord.
  • All:
    • Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

  • Cantor:
    • Alleluia! Alleluia!
  • All:
    • Alleluia! Alleluia!
  • Cantor:

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

  • All:
    • Alleluia! Alleluia!


GOSPEL

  • Leader:
    • A reading from the Gospel according to John:

    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.

  • All:
    • Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

THE RENEWAL OF BAPTISMAL PROMISES

On Easter Sunday, the rite of the renewal of baptismal promises takes place, and the Creed is omitted.

  • Leader:
    • Dear brethren (brothers and sisters), through the Paschal Mystery we have been buried with Christ in Baptism, so that we may walk with him in newness of life. And so, now that our Lenten observance is concluded, let us renew the promises of Holy Baptism, by which we once renounced Satan and his works and promised to serve God in the holy Catholic Church. And so I ask you:

    Do you renounce sin, so as to live in the freedom of the children of God?

  • All:
    • I do.
  • Leader:
    • Do you renounce the lure of evil, so that sin may have no mastery over you?
  • All:
    • I do.
  • Leader:
    • Do you renounce Satan, the author and prince of sin?
  • All:
    • I do.
  • Leader:
    • Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?
  • All:
    • I do.
  • Leader:
    • Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered death and was buried, rose again from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father?
  • All:
    • I do.
  • Leader:
    • Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
  • All:
    • I do.
  • Leader:
    • And may almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us new birth by water and the Holy Spirit and bestowed on us forgiveness of our sins, keep us by his grace, in Christ Jesus our Lord, for eternal life.
  • All:
    • Amen.

REFLECTION

  • Reader:
    • Daily Meditation: Acts 10:34, 37-43

    This man God raised on the third day. (Acts 10:40)

    Alleluia! Christ is risen! What joy we feel when we hear those words on Easter! We have made it through the forty days of Lent. We have walked with Jesus on his journey to the cross in Holy Week. Now we can proclaim the good news of his resurrection and celebrate with all the angels and saints.

    But Easter doesn't end today. As a Church, we celebrate Easter as an octave, for a full eight days. We celebrate it as a liturgical season, lasting fifty days, until Pentecost. And we celebrate it every Sunday throughout the year.

    The truth is, Easter never ends! What Jesus accomplished through his death and resurrection can never be undone. What our Father created as "very good" (Genesis 1:31), what was corrupted and lost, has now been redeemed.

    So look beyond this joyous day to the season ahead. Spend time over these next fifty days reflecting on the Mass readings to see how the apostles responded to this good news. For them, the resurrection changed everything and turned their whole world upside down! Jesus had risen—they had seen him with their own eyes. Where once they were afraid, now nothing was more important to them than sharing the good news, whatever the cost.

    Jesus' resurrection has changed everything for you too. You are loved. You are redeemed. And "when Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:4).

    How will you respond to this amazing news? Don't let Easter come and go. Live in this truth every single day. Let it seep into every fiber of your being. Baptized into Christ's resurrection, you are a new creation. Christ lives in you and you live in Christ, both now and forever. Alleluia!

    "Jesus, you are my all in all (Colossians 3:11)."

GENERAL INTERCESSIONS

  • Leader:
    • Truly Jesus is risen as he said, Alleluia!
    In firm faith, we place our concerns before God as Jesus did.

  • Reader:
    • The response will be: Lord, hear our prayer.
  • Reader:
    • For the Church: (pause)
    that we may radiate the light of Christ each day
    and confidently live as daughters and sons of God.

    We pray to the Lord.

  • All:
    • Lord, hear our prayer.
  • Reader:
    • For the gift of peace: (pause)
    that the Spirit of God will bring forth a springtime of peace
    in our cities, our nation, and amongst nations
    so that all people may live in safety and with dignity.

    We pray to the Lord.

  • All:
    • Lord, hear our prayer.
  • Reader:
    • For all the baptized: (pause)
    that Christ will pour out the Spirit upon us
    and enable us to continue the mission of bringing hope, meaning,
    and love to our society.

    We pray to the Lord.

  • All:
    • Lord, hear our prayer.
  • Reader:
    • For all who find themselves walking in darkness
    or doubting their faith, (pause)
    that they may encounter the Risen Lord who brings light
    to their journey and peace to their hearts.

    We pray to the Lord.

  • All:
    • Lord, hear our prayer.
  • Reader:
    • For an end to violence: (pause)
    that God will turn hearts from using violence to settle differences,
    open options for dialogue, and protect the innocent from harm.

    We pray to the Lord.

  • All:
    • Lord, hear our prayer.
  • Reader:
    • For successful distribution of the Covid vaccine, (pause)
    that God will guide the delivery of vaccines
    to where they are needed
    and give strength to all who are administering them.

    We pray to the Lord.

  • All:
    • Lord, hear our prayer.
  • Reader:
    • For the sick, especially those for whom we have been asked to pray,
    and, particularly, those who are placed in quarantine and isolation, (pause)
    that God's healing touch may bring them comfort and peace.

    We pray to the Lord.

  • All:
    • Lord, hear our prayer.
  • Reader:
    • For all our sisters and brothers who have died, especially
    those who have died from the coronavirus pandemic,
    (pause)

    that they experience the joy of God's heavenly family for all eternity.

    We pray to the Lord.

  • All:
    • Lord, hear our prayer.
  • Reader:
    • For the prayers we now make in the silence of our hearts, (pause)

    We pray to the Lord.

  • All:
    • Lord, hear our prayer.
  • Leader:
    • Glorious God, you raised up your Son from the dead.
    Raise us up and hear our prayer
    that we may praise your glory today and always.

  • All:
    • Amen.

LORD'S PRAYER

  • Leader:
    • Let us pray with confidence to the Father in the words our Savior gave us.
  • 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.

    Amen.


SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

  • All:

    • My Jesus, I believe that you are present
       in the most Blessed Sacrament.
    I love You above all things
       and I desire to receive You into my soul.

    Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,
       come at least spiritually into my heart.

    I embrace You as if You were already there,
       and unite myself wholly to You.
    Never permit me to be separated from You.

    Amen.

PRAYER OF BLESSING

  • Leader:
    • St Michael, the Archangel, Protect and Pray for us.
  • All:
    • Amen.
  • Leader:
    • The Lord bless us and keep us; the Lord make his face shine on us and be gracious to us; the Lord turn his face toward us and give us his peace both now and forever.
  • All:
    • Amen.
  • Leader:
    • In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
  • All:
    • Amen.
SOURCES

Lectionary for Sunday Mass
© 1998, 1997, 1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC

Prayers at Home When Gathering for Mass Is Not Possible
© 2020, the Diocese of Clonfert and the Diocese of Elphin, Ireland

The Roman Missal © 2011, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC

Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest: Leader's Edition
© 2007, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC

The Word Among Us, © 2020 The Word Among Us.