New Life; Living Hope: Second Sunday of Easter 2026

                                                 New Life; Living Hope:

Second Sunday of Easter 2026 

April 12, 2026

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Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 118; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31

 

Overwhelming joy punctuates the first Apostles as they come together in astonishment. Acts writes, “They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people.” Thomas cries out, “My Lord and My God” after receiving the Holy Spirit that ushers in a radical depth of peace. Peter explodes with praise as he writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope.” Wow. A new birth to a living hope. 

 

What does this tell us about Peter? These are words from a man whose life was significantly changed. He is becoming someone new because of the Resurrection. We have to realize that God is not simply making us into better people; God is making us into new people. This is about transformation, new life, not simply that we improve who we are. We can think about salvation as “enjoying the fulness of new life.” Salvation moves us into wholeness, into an inner vitality. Salvation is far more than being saved from sin; Let us put sin in its proper perspective. Salvation is about enjoying the fulness of life. What do you need to embrace this “newness?”

 

Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, speaks about this as the “magis,” the more. Sometimes we feel stuck with our fate or state in life, or we look at our lives as defined by past failures, or we have reached a point of resignation where we simply say, “This is just who I am.” No. There’s more. There’s much more. Through God’s mercy, we are given a living hope. You have been given new life with a living hope. We cannot let ourselves settle when new life is offered to us.

 

This is not an ordinary, passive hope in which we say, “I hope things get better,” or “In the end, all will be well.” This is an active, living hope that has already begun within us. It has already started. We can now strive for our best, hold not the love we had in childhood, and to know of our essential goodness even when life has battered us down. This is a living hope that cannot die – even when we die. This is about a relationship now and in the future, a relationship with the Risen Jesus who is alive right now and reaches out to you with gentle hands. Our hope is not optimism. Our hope is what happens when Christ walks into our fear and does not leave. This is Christ’s mercy to us. Christ enters into the fabric of our life and is pleased to be there. 

 

Some might ask, “How can we have hope when there are overwhelming dark forces in the world, when we feel like we are stuck in the tomb? Sometimes, the tomb can provide us safety from the menacing powers.” We may wonder, “Where are you, O God? How can you permit this darkness?” You are right to ask. Fear has no place in God’s plan. We are called out from the tomb, out of our fears into an unstable world. We are called to live in the resurrection. It was not just something that happened to Jesus, it is something that is happening to us. Humanity will reach a tipping point when there are more people with expanding consciousness and compassion to reshape the world.

 

What does this mean for us? We can make ourselves vulnerable and risk loving generously because that love can never be lost. We can endure suffering with hope because suffering is not the final word. We can let go of lesser concerns because something greater awaits us. God is always standing before us – beckoning us forward, waiting in the future, leading us toward a future that cannot be taken away. It might be time for us to make some radical changes in our thinking. Let us go forward together and raise our consciousness to higher matters. Let us drop everything that holds us back from the fulness to which we are called. Let us live in this love that knows no limitations.

 

Today, we read about Jesus coming back to see Thomas with the Apostles. We saw how he came back for Mary Magdalene, for Peter, and the Others. We also know that the first person he visited was a woman in grief, sitting in her courtyard filled with overwhelming loss. What son have risen from the dead would not first return to his mother? And Jesus has not forgotten you. He will come for you. He will appear to you in many ways before you recognize that you matter, that you matter a great deal to him, that he cares for you, that he wants your friendship, that you are lovable and worthy of his love, that he wants to give you the fullness of life. If you knew how much you are loved, you would do everything in your power to live as God sees you. This is what I want for you too. Within the Resurrection, there is nothing to hold us back. Let us explore the energy of this creative love, this transformative mercy, that transforms lives and grounds us in living hope.

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

Monday: (Acts 4) Peter and John return to their people after being released from the religious authorities. They prayed about their ordeal and the whole house shook and all were filled with the Holy Spirit. 

 

Tuesday: (Acts 4) The community of believers was of one heart and mind and together they bore witness to the Resurrection. Joseph, called Barnabas, sold a property and give money to the Apostles. 

 

Wednesday: (Acts 5) The high priest with the Sadducees jailed the Apostles but during the night the Lord opened the prison doors and the Apostles returned to the Temple area to preach.

 

Thursday: (Acts 5) The Apostles were brought forth again during their arrest and they were reminded that they were forbidden to preach. Peter said on behalf of the Apostles that they are to obey God, and not men.  

 

Friday (Acts 5) Gamaliel, the Pharisee, urges wisdom for the Sanhedrin declaring that if this is of God, it cannot be stopped, but if it is of men, it will certainly die out. 

 

Saturday (Acts 6) The number of disciples grew. The Hellenists complained to the Hebrews that their widows were being neglected. The Twelve decided it was right to select seven reputable men (deacons) to take care of the daily distribution while they continued with prayer and the ministry of the word. Meanwhile the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly. Even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (John 3) Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews comes to Jesus wondering about where he is able to do the great miracles and teachings. He tries to understand. 

 

Tuesday: (John 3) Jesus answered Nicodemus saying, “you must be born from above” to accept this testimony. 

 

Wednesday (John 3) God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but that the world might be saved through him. 

 

Thursday (John 3) Jesus explains that he was come from above and speaks of the things that are from above. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. 

 

Friday (John 6) Near a Passover feast, Jesus miraculously feeds the hungry crowds as a good shepherd would. He reminds the people that the actions in his earthly life were precursors of the meal that they are to share. They are to eat his body and drink his blood.  

 

Saturday (John 6) Jesus then departs to the other side of the sea. When a storm picks up, he walks on the turbulent waves and instructs them not to be afraid. He is with them. He has power over the natural and supernatural world. 

 

Saints of the Week

 

April 13: Martin I, pope, (6^th century – 655), an Umbrian was elected pope during the Byzantine papacy. One of his earliest acts was to convene the Lateran Council that dealt with the heretical Monothelitism.  Martin was abducted by Emperor Constans II and died in the Crimean Peninsula.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• April 12, 1671. Pope Clement X canonized Francis Borgia, the 3rd general of the Society. 
• April 13, 1541. Ignatius was elected general in a second election, after having declined the results of the first election several days earlier. 
• April 14, 1618. The father of John Berchmans is ordained a priest. John himself was still a Novice. 
• April 15, 1610. The death of Fr. Robert Parsons, the most active and indefatigable of all the leaders of the English Catholics during the reign of Elizabeth I. 
• April 16, 1767. Pope Clement XIII wrote to Charles III of Spain imploring him to cancel the decree of expulsion of the Society from Spain, issued on Aprilil 2nd. The Pope's letter nobly defends the innocence of the Society. 
• April 17, 1540. The arrival in Lisbon of St Francis Xavier and Fr. Simon Rodriguez. Both were destined for India, but the King retained the latter in Portugal. 
• April 18, 1906. At Rome, the death of Rev Fr. Luis Martin, twenty-fourth General of the Society. Pope Pius X spoke of him as a saint, a martyr, a man of extraordinary ability and prudence.

Nueva vida; esperanza viva: Segundo domingo de Pascua de 2026

                                                Nueva vida; esperanza viva:

Segundo domingo de Pascua de 2026

12 de abril de 2026

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Hechos 2:42-47; Salmo 118; 1 Pedro 1:3-9; Juan 20:19-31

 

Una alegría desbordante inunda a los primeros apóstoles cuando se reúnen asombrados. Hechos escribe: «Comían con júbilo y sinceridad de corazón, alabando a Dios y gozando del favor de todo el pueblo». Tomás exclama: «¡Señor mío y Dios mío!» tras recibir el Espíritu Santo, que les infunde una paz profunda y radical. Pedro estalla en alabanza al escribir: «Bendito sea el Dios y Padre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, que en su gran misericordia nos ha hecho nacer de nuevo a una esperanza viva». ¡Guau! Un nuevo nacimiento a una esperanza viva.

 

¿Qué nos dice esto sobre Pedro? Son palabras de un hombre cuya vida cambió radicalmente. Se está convirtiendo en una persona nueva gracias a la Resurrección. Debemos comprender que Dios no solo nos hace mejores personas, sino que nos transforma en personas nuevas. Se trata de transformación, de una nueva vida, no simplemente de mejorar nuestra propia persona. Podemos pensar en la salvación como «disfrutar de la plenitud de una nueva vida». La salvación nos lleva a la plenitud, a una vitalidad interior. La salvación es mucho más que ser librados del pecado; pongamos el pecado en su justa perspectiva. La salvación consiste en disfrutar de la plenitud de la vida. ¿Qué necesitas para abrazar esta «novedad»?

 

Ignacio de Loyola, fundador de los jesuitas, habla de esto como el « magis », el más. A veces nos sentimos atrapados por nuestro destino o nuestra situación en la vida, o vemos nuestras vidas definidas por fracasos pasados, o hemos llegado a un punto de resignación en el que simplemente decimos: «Así soy yo». No. Hay más. Mucho más. Por la misericordia de Dios, se nos da una esperanza viva. Se te ha dado una nueva vida con una esperanza viva. No podemos conformarnos cuando se nos ofrece una nueva vida.

 

Esta no es una esperanza ordinaria y pasiva en la que decimos: «Espero que las cosas mejoren» o «Al final, todo saldrá bien». Esta es una esperanza activa y viva que ya ha comenzado en nuestro interior. Ya ha empezado. Ahora podemos esforzarnos por dar lo mejor de nosotros mismos, no aferrarnos al amor de la infancia y reconocer nuestra bondad esencial incluso cuando la vida nos ha golpeado con fuerza. Esta es una esperanza viva que no puede morir, ni siquiera cuando morimos. Se trata de una relación ahora y en el futuro, una relación con Jesús Resucitado, que está vivo ahora mismo y te tiende la mano con ternura. Nuestra esperanza no es optimismo. Nuestra esperanza es lo que sucede cuando Cristo entra en nuestro miedo y no se va. Esta es la misericordia de Cristo para con nosotros. Cristo entra en el tejido de nuestra vida y se complace en estar allí.

 

Algunos podrían preguntar: "¿Cómo podemos tener esperanza cuando hay fuerzas oscuras abrumadoras en el mundo, cuando nos sentimos atrapados en la tumba? A veces, la tumba puede brindarnos seguridad frente a poderes amenazantes". Quizás nos preguntemos: "¿Dónde estás, oh Dios? ¿Cómo permites esta oscuridad?". Tienen razón al preguntar. El miedo no tiene cabida en el plan de Dios. Hemos sido llamados a salir de la tumba, de nuestros miedos a un mundo inestable. Hemos sido llamados a vivir en la resurrección. No fue solo algo que le sucedió a Jesús, es algo que nos está sucediendo a nosotros. La humanidad alcanzará un punto de inflexión cuando haya más personas con una conciencia y compasión expandidas para transformar el mundo.

 

¿Qué significa esto para nosotros? Podemos mostrarnos vulnerables y arriesgarnos a amar con generosidad, porque ese amor jamás se pierde. Podemos soportar el sufrimiento con esperanza, porque el sufrimiento no es el final. Podemos dejar de lado las preocupaciones menores, porque algo mayor nos aguarda. Dios siempre está presente, invitándonos a seguir adelante, esperando en el futuro, guiándonos hacia un futuro que nadie nos puede arrebatar. Quizás sea el momento de hacer cambios radicales en nuestra forma de pensar. Avancemos juntos y elevemos nuestra conciencia a asuntos superiores. Dejemos atrás todo aquello que nos impide alcanzar la plenitud a la que estamos llamados. Vivamos en este amor que no conoce límites.

 

Hoy leemos acerca del regreso de Jesús a Tomás con los Apóstoles. Vimos cómo regresó por María Magdalena, por Pedro y por los demás. Sabemos también que la primera persona que visitó fue una mujer afligida, sentada en su patio, abrumada por la pérdida. ¿Qué hijo resucitado no regresaría primero a su madre? Y Jesús no te ha olvidado. Él vendrá por ti. Se te manifestará de muchas maneras antes de que reconozcas que importas, que le importas muchísimo, que se preocupa por ti, que desea tu amistad, que eres digno de su amor y que quiere darte la plenitud de la vida. Si supieras cuánto te ama, harías todo lo posible por vivir como Dios te ve. Esto es lo que yo también deseo para ti. En la Resurrección, no hay nada que nos detenga. Exploremos la energía de este amor creador, esta misericordia transformadora, que transforma vidas y nos arraiga en una esperanza viva.

 

Lecturas bíblicas para la Misa diaria

Lunes: (Hechos 4) Pedro y Juan regresan con su pueblo después de ser liberados de las autoridades religiosas. Oraron sobre su terrible experiencia y toda la casa tembló y todos fueron llenos del Espíritu Santo.

Martes: (Hechos 4) La comunidad de creyentes tenía un solo corazón y una sola mente, y juntos dieron testimonio de la Resurrección. José, llamado Bernabé, vendió una propiedad y dio dinero a los apóstoles.

 

Miércoles: (Hechos 5) El sumo sacerdote, junto con los saduceos, encarceló a los apóstoles, pero durante la noche el Señor abrió las puertas de la prisión y los apóstoles regresaron al área del Templo para predicar.

 

Jueves: (Hechos 5) Los apóstoles fueron llevados de nuevo durante su arresto y se les recordó que tenían prohibido predicar. Pedro dijo en nombre de los apóstoles que debían obedecer a Dios y no a los hombres.

 

Viernes (Hechos 5) Gamaliel, el fariseo, insta a la prudencia al Sanedrín declarando que si esto es de Dios, no se puede detener, pero si es de los hombres, ciertamente desaparecerá.

 

Sábado (Hechos 6) El número de discípulos creció. Los helenistas se quejaron a los hebreos de que sus viudas estaban siendo desatendidas. Los Doce decidieron que era correcto elegir a siete hombres respetables (diáconos) para que se encargaran de la distribución diaria mientras ellos continuaban con la oración y el ministerio de la palabra. Mientras tanto, el número de discípulos en Jerusalén aumentó considerablemente. Incluso un gran grupo de sacerdotes se estaba convirtiendo a la fe.

 

Evangelio: 

Lunes: (Juan 3) Nicodemo, un fariseo, un gobernante de los judíos, se acerca a Jesús preguntándose de dónde es capaz de hacer los grandes milagros y enseñar. Trata de comprender.

 

Martes: (Juan 3) Jesús respondió a Nicodemo diciendo: “Tienes que nacer de nuevo” para aceptar este testimonio.

 

Miércoles (Juan 3) Dios no envió a su Hijo al mundo para condenarlo, sino para que el mundo sea salvo por medio de él.

 

Jueves (Juan 3) Jesús explica que vino de lo alto y habla de las cosas que vienen de arriba. Quien cree en el Hijo tiene vida eterna.

 

Viernes (Juan 6). Cerca de la celebración de la Pascua, Jesús alimenta milagrosamente a la multitud hambrienta, como un buen pastor. Les recuerda que sus acciones en la tierra fueron un preludio de la comida que compartirán: comerán su cuerpo y beberán su sangre.

 

Sábado (Juan 6) Jesús se dirige entonces al otro lado del mar. Cuando se desata una tormenta, camina sobre las olas turbulentas y les dice que no teman. Él está con ellos. Tiene poder sobre el mundo natural y sobrenatural.

 

Santos de la semana

 

13 de abril: Martín I, papa (siglo VI ^– 655), de origen umbro, fue elegido papa durante el papado bizantino. Uno de sus primeros actos fue convocar el Concilio de Letrán, que trató el tema del monotelismo herético. Martín fue raptado por el emperador Constante II y murió en la península de Crimea.

 

Esta semana en la historia jesuita

 

• 12 de abril de 1671. El Papa Clemente X canonizó a Francisco de Borja, el tercer general de la Compañía de Jesús.
• 13 de abril de 1541. Ignacio fue elegido general en una segunda elección, después de haber rechazado los resultados de la primera elección varios días antes.
• 14 de abril de 1618. El padre de John Berchmans es ordenado sacerdote. John aún era novicio.
• 15 de abril de 1610. Fallece el padre Robert Parsons, el más activo e incansable de todos los líderes de los católicos ingleses durante el reinado de Isabel I.
• 16 de abril de 1767. El papa Clemente XIII escribió a Carlos III de España implorándole que anulara el decreto de expulsión de la Compañía de España, emitido el 2 de abril . La carta del Papa defiende noblemente la inocencia de la Compañía.
• 17 de abril de 1540. Llegada a Lisboa de San Francisco Javier y el padre Simón Rodríguez. Ambos tenían como destino la India, pero el rey retuvo a este último en Portugal.
• 18 de abril de 1906. En Roma, fallece el reverendo padre Luis Martín, vigésimo cuarto general de la Compañía de Jesús. El papa Pío X lo describió como un santo, un mártir, un hombre de extraordinaria capacidad y prudencia.

Photo: He is Risen

 

Poem: "We have seen Jesus," by Ann Weems

 Whom do you seek?

“Sir, tell me where you have laid him, and
I will take him away.”
All Jesus had to say was ”Mary!”

Mary, Mary, Mary,
Oh, Mary,
Do you not know me?
“Rabboni!”
Yes, she knew him.
She knew Jesus.
She ran to tell the others:
“I have seen Jesus.”
And there it is …
our Lenten search,
that which we have waited for,
that which we have sought,
that which we have worked for.

He is not some goody-goody god;
he is Justice
he is Mercy
he is Humility

he is Love.

And Mary saw him;
Mary knew him;
Mary followed;
Mary believed;
Mary ran to tell the others.
Later that night,
when the doors were shut,
Jesus came to them
and stood among them
and said, ”Peace be with you”

as he always did,
and he said it again,
after he had shown them
his hands and his side.

“Peace be with you.”

Photo: Easter Glory

 

Poem: “Early While It Was Yet Dark” By: Alice Meynell

All night had shout of men and cry

Of woeful women filled his way;

Until that noon of sombre sky

On Friday, clamor and display

Smote him; no solitude had he,

No silence, since Gethsemane.

 

Public was death; but power, but might,

But life again, but victory,

Were hushed within the dead of night,

The shuttered dark, the secrecy,

And all alone, alone, alone

He rose again behind the stone.

 

Photo: He is Risen

 

Spirituality: Salvation

Belief in Jesus calls for a life spent following the way of Jesus in Word and action. Salvation might best be translated into “enjoying the fullness of life.” Salvation is a healing and wholeness process of inner vitality. Salvation begins and is enriched during life on earth and will continue to grow consciously forever with God in heaven. Salvation means so much more than being saved from sin, it is primarily about enjoying the fullness of life.

Poem: “I Thirst” By: Evelyn Varboncoeur

                             Lord, why speak this word – “I thirst” – with your last breath?

Don’t you know that the last words of the dying

Are etched in the memories of the living?

Are pondered in their hearts?

Are cherished as reflecting the full stature of the life of the dying one?

Ah – could it be that this is your intent?

Could it be that this word is a parable,

As were so many words spoken during your life?

Those of us who were with you

Have heard you speak this word before – 

To the woman of Samaria.

And your thirst became in her

“a fountain welling of living water leaping up to eternal life.”

Is this your intent now?

To make known to us this soul-thirst of yours,

This God-sized soul-thirst?

Once again – in your last breath

You cry out your thirst – this time to us

So that for all ages

Your thirst might again become a fountain of living water in us.

Let this word be etched in our memories

Pondered in our hearts

Cherished as reflecting the full stature of your life.

Photo: The Altar at Triduum