Thursday in the Octave of Easter

Peter preaches: the author of life you put to death, but God raised him; repent and be converted; Jesus appears to the Eleven - touch me, a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones; he eats fish; he opens their minds to understand Scripture.

Peter preaches in Solomon's Portico after healing the cripple: the God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus. You denied the Holy and Righteous One. The author of life you put to death, but God raised him. We are witnesses. You acted out of ignorance. Repent and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away. In the Gospel, Jesus stands in the disciples' midst: Peace. They are terrified (ghost!). He says: touch me and see - flesh and bones. He shows hands and feet. He eats baked fish. Then he opens their minds to understand: the Christ would suffer and rise on the third day. Repentance and forgiveness preached to all nations. You are witnesses.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, you are the author of life whom death could not hold, raised by the Father in glory. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Christ Jesus, you stood among your frightened disciples and showed them your hands and your feet - flesh and bones, not a ghost. PEOPLE: Christ, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, you opened the minds of your disciples to understand the Scriptures, and you commissioned them as witnesses. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

PRIEST: O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth! With wonder at the Risen Christ who eats and drinks among us, let us pray.

DEACON/LECTOR:

1. For those who preach the Gospel - bishops, priests, deacons, catechists, and parents: that they would proclaim repentance and forgiveness with Peter's conviction and the Risen Christ's authority, we pray to the Lord.

2. For the neophytes now entering ordinary parish life after the extraordinary nights of the Triduum: that the community would receive them not as guests but as family, we pray to the Lord.

3. For all who are terrified - who see the work of God and mistake it for a ghost, who fear what they cannot explain: that the Risen Christ would say to them "touch me and see," we pray to the Lord.

4. For scientists, doctors, and all who serve the human body: that the physical Resurrection of Christ would deepen their reverence for the flesh they study and heal, we pray to the Lord.

5. For our parish: that we would be witnesses who cannot be silenced - not because we are bold by temperament, but because we have seen and touched and cannot pretend otherwise, we pray to the Lord.

6. For our beloved dead, whose bodies await the resurrection: that the author of life would raise them as he himself was raised - in glory, in flesh, in joy, we pray to the Lord.

PRIEST: Author of life, you showed your disciples that you are no ghost - you have flesh and bones and an appetite for fish. Ground our faith in your physical reality, and make us witnesses to the nations. Through Christ our Lord. Alleluia! Amen.