The Lord be with you
The appointed lessons for Easter Wednesday are: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; Colossians 3:1-7 or 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; and John 21:1-14.
The Introit is drawn from Psalm 118:13-14, 29, antiphon Psalm 118:17.
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the LORD.
I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
The LORD is my strength and my sons;
he has become my salvation.
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the LORD.
The LORD has disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
O Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
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.
Collect of the Day
Almighty God, by the glorious resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, You destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light. Grant that we who have been raised with Him may abide in His presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Gradual (adapted from 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 fet.
Verse (2 Timothy 1:10b)
Alleluia. [Christ Jesus] abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Alleluia.
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
13The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. …
17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
Colossians 3:1-7
3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.
or 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
John 21:1-14.
21:1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.
9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
You might have noticed that the Introit for Easter Tuesday and Easter Wednesday are the same. The Gradual is the same for Easter Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The Verse is the same for Easter, Easter Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. You will also notice that the first reading is from Acts and not the Old Testament. The first reading is typically from the book of Acts during the Easter season as we see the resurrected Jesus active in and through his Church.
I don’t have a whole lot of information about this day beyond the propers given above. Clearly its recognition dates back before the modern era when the celebration of Easter lasted an entire week, culminating in the “octave” of Easter (our Second Sunday of Easter). “Octave” comes from the Latin word for eight, like in the word octagon. Counting from Easter Sunday to the next Sunday, inclusively, you have eight days, hence the word octave for the Second Sunday of Easter.
Easter Blessings
Pastor