Beads of Joy Blog II (2025 - 2026)

Wednesday of Easter Week April 8, 2026 The Road to Emmaus Acts 3:1-10  |  Luke 24:13-35 Photo created by James Dacey Jr. using M365 Co-Pilot. Today's Readings Acts 3:1-10 Peter and John were going to the temple for prayer. A man lame from birth was carried there daily to beg. He looked at them, expecting money. Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk.” He leaped up, walked, and went into the temple praising God. Luke 24:13-35 Two disciples were walking to Emmaus, discouraged and confused. A stranger joined them and began explaining the Scriptures. They urged Him to stay. When He broke bread, their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him, and He vanished. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke?" Today's Thread: Give what you actually have. Peter had no money, but he had something far greater than money. The two disciples on the road had no idea t...

Tuesday of Easter Week April 7, 2026 Acts 2:36-41  |  John 20:11-18 Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using M365 Co-Pilot. Today's Readings Acts 2:36-41 Peter declared that God made Jesus both Lord and Christ. The crowd was cut to the heart and asked what they should do. Peter told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and they would receive the Holy Spirit. About three thousand were added that day. John 20:11-18 Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. Jesus appeared to her, but she did not recognize Him at first. When He called her by name, she turned and cried out, "Rabboni!" Jesus told her not to cling to Him but to go and tell the brothers. Mary went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. Today's Thread: He calls you by name. Not by your title or your worst mistake. Not even by what you used to be. He called Mary by her name, and everything changed in an instant. Peter told a crowd of thousand...

Monday of Easter Week April 6, 2026 Acts 2:14, 22-33  |  Matthew 28:8-15 Photo created by James Dacey Jr. using M365 Co-Pilot. Today's Readings: Acts 2:14, 22-33 Peter stood up with the Eleven and raised his voice. He proclaimed that Jesus of Nazareth was handed over and crucified, but God raised Him up, releasing Him from the throes of death. He declared that God made Him both Lord and Christ. Matthew 28:8-15 The women left the tomb fearful yet overjoyed and ran to tell the disciples. Jesus met them on the way, and they embraced His feet and worshiped Him. Meanwhile, the chief priests paid the guards to spread a lie that the disciples stole the body. Today's Thread: Say what you know. Peter didn't wait, and the women didn't hesitate. They saw something real, and they moved on it immediately. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, people were being paid good money to stay quiet about what they had witnessed. Living It Today: Somewhere in your day-to-day, someone needs to...

  Easter Sunday - April 5, 2026 Acts 10:34a, 37-43  |  Colossians 3:1-4 John 20:1-9 Photo created by James Dacey Jr. using M365 Co-Pilot. Today's Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Peter proclaimed that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit, and that He went about doing good, and that they put Him to death, but God raised Him on the third day and commanded them to preach that He is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Colossians 3:1-4 If you were raised with Jesus, seek what is above. Your life is hidden with Jesus Christ in God. When Christ returns, you will appear with Him in glory. John 20:1-9 Mary came to the tomb early and found the stone removed. Peter and the other disciple ran to see the empty tomb. The other disciple saw and believed. Today's Thread - The tomb is empty. Now what? Witnesses!! That's what all three readings are asking you to be today. Peter witnessed it and preached it. Paul told the Colossians to live like it's true. John s...

🔥 Holy Saturday Evening  April 4, 2026 The EASTER Vigil Mass The Night That Changes Everything Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. The Easter Vigil • The Mother of All Vigils • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II 🕯️ The Vigil Readings Reading 1: Genesis 1:1 - 2:2 In the beginning Reading 2: Genesis 22:1-18 Abraham and Isaac Reading 3: Exodus 14:15 - 15:1 Through the Red Sea Reading 4: Isaiah 54:5-14 The Lord calls you back Reading 5: Isaiah 55:1-11 Come to the water Reading 6: Baruch 3:9-15, 32 - 4:4 Walk in His ways Reading 7: Ezekiel 36:16-28 I will give you a new heart Epistle: Romans 6:3-11 Raised with Him Gospel: Matthew 28:1-10 He is not here. He is risen. 🔥 It Begins In Darkness No lights. No candles. No music. Just darkness and silence and a congregation standing outside in the night around a pile of wood waiting for a spark. And then: FIRE!!! A single flame struck from the darkness. The Paschal Candle lit from that flame. The priest lifts it high and s...

🕯️ Saturday, April 4, 2026 The Longest Day No Mass Till The Vigil Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Holy Saturday • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today The Church observes a sacred fast today. There is no Mass until the Easter Vigil tonight. 📖 The Word Today No Gospel is being read at morning prayer today. Just silence. The tomb is sealed. The disciples are scattered and terrified. Mary Magdalene is weeping somewhere. Peter is hiding. John is with Our Lady. And Jesus, the Word made flesh, is silent in the tomb. 🙏 Reflection This is the longest day of the year. Yesterday He died. Tomorrow, He rises. But today, nothing. Just the sealed stone in front of the tomb and the silence and the longest Saturday in human history. The disciples didn't know about tomorrow. They just knew about yesterday. They had watched Him die. They had seen the stone rolled across the entrance. And now they sat in their locked room with their grief and their confusion and thei...

🕯️ Friday, April 3, 2026 It Is Finished And Yet, It Is Just Beginning Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Good Friday • The Passion of the Lord • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Isaiah 52:13- 53:12 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25 Second Reading: Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 Gospel: John 18:1- 19:42 📖 The Gospel He was arrested. Tried. Scourged. Crowned with thorns. Condemned. He carried His cross. He was nailed to it. He said, “I thirst.” He said, "It is finished." He bowed His head and handed over His spirit. 🙏 Reflection Jesus died. The Son of God, the I AM, the Living Water, the Resurrection and the Life, the one who called Lazarus out of the tomb, was nailed to a cross outside Jerusalem and died today. Isaiah had seen it coming seven centuries earlier: He was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. The punishment that made us whole fell on him. We had all gone astray. And the L...

🕯️ Thursday, April 2, 2026 Jesus Got Down on His Knees …and He Washed Their Feet Photo created by James Dacey, Jr using Co-Pilot. Holy Thursday • The Mass of the Lord's Supper • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18 Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Gospel: John 13:1-15 📖 The Gospel Before the Passover feast, Jesus rises from supper, ties a towel around His waist, and begins to wash His disciples' feet. Peter protests, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus says, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Then Jesus says, "Do you understand what I have done? I have given you an example. As I have done, so you must do. 🙏 Reflection The God of the universe got down on His knees tonight and washed dirty feet. Think about that for a moment. The hands that formed the stars untied sandals and cleaned the dust of the road off twelve sets of feet, incl...