Monday, April 6, 2026

Tuesday Prior to Easter 2


Psalm 148In Sunday’s psalm, the psalmist calls upon all of creation—those on the earth, those under the sea, and those in the heavens—to join in a chorus of praise to the Lord. Animate and inanimate, all of creation proclaims the glory of the Lord!

Psalm 148 – Let Heaven and Earth Praise the LORD

Psalm 148 calls upon all creation to praise Yahweh. What a wonderful song this is! Look over it again, and note the fact that there is no reference in it, from first to last, to the mercy, or pity, or compassion of God. That is because there is no reference to evil in any form.

Alexander Maclaren wrote that Psalm 148 continues “…a line of thought which runs through Scripture from its first page to its last – namely, that, as man’s sin subjected the creatures to ‘vanity,’ so his redemption shall be their glorifying.”

This call to all creation to praise Yahweh is not an empty wish. Revelation 5:11-13 tells us specifically that it will be fulfilled. “O what a hymn of praise is here! It is a universal chorus! All created nature have a share, and all perform their respective parts. [2]

Collect for Psalm 148: God Most High, by your Word, you created a wondrous universe, and through your Spirit, you breathed into it the breath of life. Accept creation’s hymn of praise from our lips, and let the praise that is sung in heaven resound in the heart of every creature on earth, to the glory of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen [3]

Collect for Tuesday of the week of Easter 1: Father, by this Easter mystery you touch our lives with the healing power of your love. You have given us the freedom of the sons of God. May we who now celebrate your gift find joy in it forever in heaven. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen [4]


[1]  Easter 2 image © www.agnusday.org 

[3] Collect for Psalm 148, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By the Church, Vol. III © 1995 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY

[4] Ibid, Collect for Tuesday of the week of Easter 1


Sunday, April 5, 2026

Monday Prior to Easter 2


 



Psalm 105:1–5, 8; Antiphon, 1 Peter 2:2–3The second Sunday of Easter is sometimes called Quasimodogeniti, Latin for the first words of the Introit, ‘Like newborn infants.’ Just as a baby eagerly suckles at its mother’s breast, so we, who have been given new life in Christ by His death and resurrection, also do eagerly desire the pure spiritual milk provided by our Lord for our nourishment and good growth. This He gives us through the preaching of His Word and the most blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Psalm 105 – The LORD’s blessing upon His people

Whoever arranged and ordered the psalms placed Psalm 105 and Psalm 106 together purposefully. “This and the following psalm are companions. They reveal the two sides of the relation between God and His people during a long period. This one sings the song of His faithfulness and power; while the next tells the sad story of repeated failure and rebellion on the part of His people.

The first 15 verses of Psalm 105 are also found in 1 Chronicles 16:8-22 and presented there as a composition of David, written and sung for the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. We can therefore conclude that though this psalm is not here specifically attributed to King David, he is the author of it.[1]

Collect for Psalm 105: God our Father, through the death and resurrection of your Son you have fulfilled the promise to Abraham, Joseph, and Moses to redeem the world from slavery and to lead us into the Promised Land. Grant us living water from the rock and bread from heaven that we may survive our desert pilgrimage and praise you forever, through Jesus Christ our Lord.[2]

Christ Jesus Breathes His Spirit and His Life into Us by the
Ministry of the Gospel

The crucified and risen Lord Jesus establishes the Ministry of the Gospel, in order to bestow His life-giving Holy Spirit and His peace upon the Church. To those who are called and ordained to this Office, and to those whom they serve in His name, He grants the Holy Absolution of all sins. By the fruits of His Cross He replaces fear and doubt with peace and joy, and thus gives “repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31). Through the preaching of His sent ones He calls us to believe that He “is the Christ, the Son of God,” so that by such faith we “may have life in His name” (John 20:31). In His resurrection, we have the “living hope” to which we have been “born again” and by which we are guarded “for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3, 5). Until then, “though you have not seen Him, you love Him,” and by the mercies of God “you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Pet. 1:8).

Collect for Monday of the week of Easter 1:Father, you give your Church constant growth by adding new members to your family. Help us put into action in our lives the baptism we have received with faith. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen [3]


[2] Collect for Psalm 105, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By the Church, Vol. III © 1995 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY

[3] Ibid, Collect for Monday of the week of  Easter 1

Images: copyright www.agunsday.org
              Ed Riojas, Higher Things 

Saturday, April 4, 2026

Easter 2 notes


 


Acts 5:29–42

1 Peter 1:3–9

John 20:19–31

 

Christ Jesus Breathes His Spirit and His Life into Us by the Ministry of the Gospel

 

The crucified and risen Lord Jesus establishes the ministry of the Gospel in order to bestow His life-giving Holy Spirit and His peace upon the Church. To those who are called and ordained to this office, and to those whom they serve in His name, He grants the Holy Absolution of all sins. By the fruits of His cross, He replaces fear and doubt with peace and joy, and thus gives “repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31). Through the preaching of His sent ones, He calls us to believe that He “is the Christ, the Son of God,” so that by such faith we “may have life in his name” (John 20:31). In His resurrection, we have the “living hope” to which we have been “born again” and by which we are guarded “for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3, 5). Until then, “though you have not seen him, you love him,” and by the mercies of God “you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

-LCMS Lectionary notes © 2018

-Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing

Image copyright wwwagnusday.org


Easter

 




Friday, April 3, 2026

Holy Saturday

 



Holy Saturday

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, through Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, You overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life. We humbly pray that we may live before You in righteousness and purity forever; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.


Hymn of the Day

LSB 467 Awake, my heart, with gladness


1 Awake, my heart, with gladness,
See what today is done;
Now, after gloom and sadness,
Comes forth the glorious sun.
My Savior there was laid
Where our bed must be made
When to the realms of light
Our spirit wings its flight.


2 The foe in triumph shouted
When Christ lay in the tomb;
But lo, he now is routed,
His boast is turned to gloom.
For Christ again is free;
In glorious victory
He who is strong to save
Has triumphed o'er the grave.


3 This is a sight that gladdens--
What peace it doth impart!
Now nothing ever saddens
The joy within my heart.
No gloom shall ever shake,
No foe shall ever take
The hope which God's own Son
In love for me hath won.


4 Now hell, its prince, the devil,
Of all their pow'r are shorn;
Now I am safe from evil,
And sin I laugh to scorn.
Grim death with all his might
Cannot my soul affright;
It is a pow'rless form,
Howe'er it rave and storm.


5 The world against me rages,
Its fury I disdain;
Though bitter war it wages,
Its work is all in vain.
My heart from care is free,
No trouble troubles me.
Misfortune now is play,
And night is bright as day.


6 Now I will cling forever
To Christ, my Savior true;
My Lord will leave me never,
Whate'er He passes through.
He rends death's iron chain;
He breaks through sin and pain;
He shatters hell's dark thrall;
I follow Him through all.


7 He brings me to the portal
That leads to bliss untold,
Whereon this rhyme immortal
Is found in script of gold:
"Who there My cross has shared
Finds here a crown prepared;
Who there with Me has died
Shall here be glorified."


Verse

2 Timothy 1:10b

Alleluia. [Christ Jesus] abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Alleluia.


Introit

Exodus 15:2a, 6, 13, 17–18; antiphon: v. 1b

I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation.

Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,

your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.

You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;

you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain,

the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode,

the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.

The Lord will reign forever and ever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be forever. Amen.

I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.


Gradual

Matthew 28:7; Hebrews 2:7; Psalm 8:6

Christ has risen from the dead.

[God the Father] has crowned him with glory and honor,

He has given him dominion over the works of his hands;

he has put all things under his feet.


Content from Lutheran Service Book: Altar Book copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Holy Saturday image copyright © Ed Riojas Higher Things



Thursday, April 2, 2026

Good Friday






 






Good Friday

 






Good Friday 

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men to suffer death upon the cross; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.


Hymn of the Day

LSB 454 Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle


1 Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle;

Sing the ending of the fray.

Now above the cross, the trophy,

Sound the loud triumphant lay:

Tell how Christ, the world's redeemer,

As a victim won the day.


2 Tell how, when at length the fullness

Of the appointed time was come,

He, the Word, was born of woman,

Left for us His Father's home,

Blazed the path of true obedience,

Shone as light amidst the gloom.


3 Thus, with thirty years accomplished,

He went forth from Nazareth,

Destined, dedicated, willing,

Did His work, and met His death;

Like a lamb He humbly yielded

On the cross His dying breath.


4 Faithful cross, true sign of triumph,

Be for all the noblest tree;

None in foliage, none in blossom,

None in fruit your equal be;

Symbol of the world's redemption,

For the weight that hung on thee!


5 Unto God be praise and glory:

To the Father and the Son,

To the eternal Spirit honor

Now and evermore be done;

Praise and glory in the highest

While the timeless ages run.


Verse

John 12:23b

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.


Introit

Psalm 38:1–4, 18, 22; antiphon: Isaiah 53:5

He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath!

For your arrows have sunk into me,

and your hand has come down on me.

There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation;

there is no health in my bones because of my sin.

For my iniquities have gone over my head;

like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

I confess my iniquity;

I am sorry for my sin.

Make haste to help me,

O Lord, my salvation!

He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

Content from Lutheran Service Book: Altar Book copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Image of Good Friday copyright Ed Riojas, Higher Things