Readings & Prayers for The Third Sunday of Easter 

Opening Rite 

If you’re at home you might wish to light a candle, make sure you are sitting comfortably and take a few deep breaths to still yourself.  

Alleluia! Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed! Alleluia.

Prayers of Penitence

In baptism we died with Christ, so that as Christ was raised from the dead, we might walk in newness of life. Let us receive new life in him as we confess our sins in penitence and faith.                                                                            cf Romans 6.4

Silence for reflection

Jesus Christ, risen Master and triumphant Lord, we come to you in sorrow for our sins, and confess to you our weakness and unbelief. We have lived by our own strength, and not by the power of your resurrection. In your mercy, forgive us. Lord, hear us and help us.

We have lived by the light of our own eyes, as faithless and not believing. In your mercy, forgive us. Lord, hear us and help us.

We have lived for this world alone, and doubted our home in heaven. In your mercy, forgive us. Lord, hear us and help us.

May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Collect  

You might like to keep a few moments of silence

Almighty Father, who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples with the sight of the risen Lord: give us such knowledge of his presence with us, that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life and serve you continually in righteousness and truth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Acts 2.14a, 36-41

Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd in Jerusalem: ‘Let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.’  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’ And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

 Psalm 116:1-3,10-17

/R: Gracious is the Lord and righteous 

I love the Lord, for he has heard the voice of my supplication; because he inclined his ear to me on the day I called to him. /R:

The snares of death encómpassed me; the pains of hell took hóld of me; by grief and sorrow was I héld. Then I called upon the name of the Lórd: ‘O Lord, I beg you, delíver my sóul.’ /R:

How shall I repay the Lórd for all the benefits he has gíven to mé? I will lift up the cup of salvátion and call upon the name of the Lórd. /R:

I will fulfíl my vows tọ the Lórd in the presence of all his péople. Precious in the sight of the Lórd is the death of his fai thful sérvants. /R:

O Lord, I am your sérvant, your servant, the child of your handmaid; you have freed me fróm my bónds. I will offer to you a sacrifí ce of thánksgiving and call upon the name of the Lórd. /R:

I will fulfíl my vows tọ the Lórd in the presence of all hi s péople, In the courts of the house of the Lórd, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Allelúia. /R:

1 Peter 1:17-23

If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.  Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart.  You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

 The Gospel according to Luke                                        Chapter 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’ Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.  As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

This is the Gospel of the Lord   Praise to you O Christ

Reflection

This story is unique to Luke’s Gospel, but its theme of recognising the risen Jesus also appears in other Gospels. Jesus joins two of his wider group of disciples, Cleopas and his companion, on their journey home from celebrating the Passover, but they don’t recognise him. The events of the last few days have collapsed their world and exhausted their hopes. The shock of all that happened to Jesus clouds their vision. But there is a divine element in their inability to recognise him. God lies behind the closing of their eyes, because it takes the gift of revelation to enable something so unexpected to break through. Jesus’ gentle yet persistent curiosity draws out the substance of their conversations. They summarise the story narrated in full in Luke’s Gospel, and add their own account of how their now-shattered hopes have been crushed into confusion with the women’s report of an empty tomb, and nothing to confirm the angelic message that supposedly explained why.  The gift of revelation begins its work as Jesus breaks open the Scriptures. There’s no particular passage to prove beyond doubt the truth of the women’s tale, just the broad sweep of Scripture’s ever-openness to the promise of salvation in God’s future. Something starts to stir in them, but not enough for them to make the divine connection between crucified shame and messianic glory. This must wait for face-to-face table talk, once they’ve persuaded the stranger to break his journey in Emmaus and share their hospitality. At the meal, as he takes the host’s initiative to give thanks, his familiar fourfold action with the bread – taking, blessing, breaking and giving – means they finally receive the gift of revelation, only for him to vanish just as suddenly as he’d appeared.  This is not something the two disciples can keep to themselves, so they head back to Jerusalem, where they hear their astonishing experience echoed by the disciples they left hours earlier. Luke includes no report of the risen Lord’s appearance to Simon, so for the moment we savour what he does serve up: the gift of revelation in the breaking of bread. If the Emmaus meal is a model eucharist, its grace extends well beyond acts of worship. After Pentecost, the church in Jerusalem habitually feeds the hungry, funded by a common purse and the praises of God.

Linking the readings

In Acts 2, Peter’s Pentecost sermon creates a baptized community nourished, among other things, by breaking bread together. 1 Peter’s community of exiles are nourished by faith, hope and love, doubtless celebrated in meals like the one at Emmaus, whose resurrection life flows out of gathered worship around a table to feed a wider, hungrier world.

Reproduced with permission www.rootsontheweb.com 2002-2021  

Prayers

Spend a few moments praying for the people you know and love, for the world, for peace and for the relief of refugees everywhere. 

On The Third Sunday of Easter          

Risen Christ, you filled your disciples with boldness and fresh hope: strengthen us to proclaim your risen life and fill us with your peace, to the glory of God the Father. Amen

Praying for the Earth                                                                        Animals

We give thanks for your promise of salvation, to us and to every living creature. We praise you for the animals of the earth and for all domestic animals. We ask for your blessing on the animals in our care, giving thanks for their simplicity and companionship. Forgive us when we are careless and forgetful of your creatures. Amen

From the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer for the Church

Porvoo Communion: Diocese of Blackburn, Diocese of Brechin (Scottish Episcopal Church), The Lutheran Church in Great Britain 

Anglican Communion: Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma) Archbishop Stephen Than Myint Oo

Diocese of Botswana: Parish of St Paul, Molepolole: Fr Lucky Lorekang, Fr Joseph Khombane and Fr Motshereganyi Sefanyetsto, Fr Lesang Mopipi and The Reverend Margaret Mere

Corbridge Deanery: Benefice of Ovingham and Wylam

Please pray for The Reverend Linda Hubnter and the people of Corbridge with Halton and Newton Hall where she will be licensed as Associate Priest by Bishop Mark. 

Please pray also for our former Area Dean the Reverend Phil Medley to be licensed today as Vicar of The Benefice of Great Horton (St John the Evangelist) and Lidget Green in Leeds Diocese

From our Parish Prayer Cycle this week  

pray for all residents of Newton Road, Denewell Avenue and Southlands 

For the sick and those being cared for in hospital or at home      

For those in residential care    

For those whose year’s minds are this week 

Emily Cheatham, Kate Taylor, David Barker, Ray Richardson, May Gladys Lumsdon, Mabel McNeill, George Lowrie, Jim Way, Dennis Mears, Eva Kelly, Rhoda Hill, Janet Anderson and William Pearson

You might like to end your prayers with The Lord's Prayer  

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. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Conclusion

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

Let us bless the Lord! Alleluia! Alleluia! Thanks be to God! Alleluia! Alleluia!