Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for April 12, 2026 (Easter 2A)

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, The Rockox Triptych (1613-1615), oil painting on panel by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, Belgium. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Acts 2:14a,22-32

Christ is risen, and we move forward with joy into the 50 days of Eastertide, the liturgical season that continues through Pentecost Sunday. In the readings for the season, we will hear about mysterious appearances of the resurrected Christ to his followers, and dwell on Jesus’s words about God’s promise of eternal life. Sunday’s readings offer insight into the meaning of resurrection in our lives. Our first readings during this season come from the Acts of the Apostles, the story of the early church and how it grew. In this reading, Peter, touched by the Holy Spirit, addresses an amazed crowd with a fluent sermon declaring the resurrected Christ as Messiah, assuring us of our hope for eternal life.

Psalm: Psalm 16

Peter quoted four verses from Psalm 16 in the first reading. Here we have the full Psalm, but you may notice that these words are similar but different. That’s because Peter was quoting the Greek translation of the Bible, the Septuagint, that was standard in his time. This version of Psalm 16, though, is translated from the original Hebrew Bible. It can be fascinating to explore the similarities and differences, but ultimately both versions convey the same promise: God teaches us, God watches over us; God protects us, and God gives us joy and pleasures for evermore.

Second Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9

Our second readings through Eastertide will draw from the First Book of Peter, the first of two letters written in Peter’s name to the early church in Asia Minor. Within this short letter we can discern the evolving theology of resurrection and salvation in the early church late in the first century. Observing that people are suffering “various trials” – perhaps persecution for their faith – the author assures them that even amid trials, God offers the faithful the joy of a lasting inheritance of salvation through Christ’s resurrection and life.

Gospel: John 20:19-31

The apostles knew that Jesus had risen, but this wonderful news was apparently insufficient to spare them fear of the Temple leaders who had worked with the Romans to arrest and execute Jesus. They are hiding in a locked room, yet suddenly Jesus appears in their midst, twice telling them, “Peace be with you.” Jesus bears visible scars but is very much alive. He sends his friends, no longer fearful, out into the world in peace, empowered with the Holy Spirit through Jesus’s breath. Then, a week later, Thomas, who had missed this first meeting, refuses to believe that Jesus had truly risen unless he could touch the wounds himself. Jesus invites Thomas to do so. Then he blesses all who have not seen yet come to believe through faith.