The Sunday Readings and Catholic Doctrine for April 2025

The meaning of the Sunday Mass Readings for April 2025 is made most clear by Catholic Doctrine. Doctrines are the Magisterium’s authoritative, essentially unchangeable clarifications of Revelation and Faith that, in order to be Catholic, must be accepted as objectively true. Doctrines describe reality. The Magisterium is the pope and bishops. Much of what they teach is not doctrine, but the application of doctrine. They do not have the authority to contradict doctrine. Let’s learn the always-true doctrines in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that we should especially take away from this April’s Readings.[1]

April 6, The Fifth Sunday of Lent

As we end the Season of Lent, today’s Second Reading anticipates our upcoming celebration of the Paschal Mystery. “We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives forever, so after death the righteous will live forever and he will raise them up on the last day” (CCC 989[2]). “For those who die in Christ’s grace it is a participation in the death of the Lord, so that they can also share in his Resurrection” (CCC 1006). The Gospel for the Second Sunday of Easter will give us a clearer picture of both Jesus’ Resurrection and our share in it.

The Catechism applies the Second Reading to catechists. All those called “to teach Christ” will benefit from reading CCC 428-429.

Referring to the Second Reading, the Catechism exhorts us “to learn ‘the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ’ by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures” (CCC 133). As we do, let us remember that “in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others” (CCC 95). And when is the Magisterium most connected and associated with Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture? When it gives doctrine.

• From the First Reading[3] (Isaiah 43:16-21): Is 43:19 is cited in CCC 711.
• From the Second Reading (Philippians 3:8-14): Phil 3:8-11 is cited in CCC 428; Phil 3:8 in CCC 133; Phil 3:10-11 in CCC 989 and 1006; and Phil 3:10 in CCC 648.
• From the Verse before the Gospel (Joel 2:12-13): Jl 2:12-13 is cited in CCC 1430.
• From the Gospel (John 8:1-11): Jn 8:2 is cited in CCC 583.

April 13, Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

One key doctrine we should take away from today’s Gospel is that the Eucharist is a sacrifice. Its sacrificial character “is manifested in the very words of institution: ‘This is my body . . .’ In the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he ‘poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’” (CCC 1365). “The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present, and not merely symbolically represents) the sacrifice of the cross” (CCC 1366). For the relationship between the Eucharist and Christ’s death, see CCC 1362-1372. For Catholic doctrine related to the Christ’s Passion, see CCC 557-637.

• At the Procession with Palms (Luke 19:28-40): Lk 19:38 is cited in CCC 559.
• From the First Reading (Isaiah 50:4-7): Is 50:4-10 is cited in CCC 713; and Is 50:4 in CCC 141.
• From the Responsorial Psalm (Psalms 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24): Ps 22 is cited in CCC 304.
• From the Second Reading (Philippians 2:6-11): Phil 2:6-11 is cited in CCC 2641 and 2667; Phil 2:6-9 in CCC 1850; Phil 2:6 in CCC 449; Phil 2:7 in CCC 472, 602, 705, 713, 876, and 1224; Phil 2:8-9 in CCC 908; Phil 2:8 in CCC 411, 612, and 623; Phil 2:9-11 in CCC 449 and 2812; Phil 2:9-10 in CCC 434; Phil 2:10-11 in CCC 201; and Phil 2:10 in CCC 633 and 635.
• From the Verse before the Gospel (Philippians 2:8-9): see above.
• From the Gospel (Luke 22:14-23:56): Lk 22:15-16 is cited in CCC 1130; Lk 22:15 in CCC 607; Lk 22:18 in CCC 1403; Lk 22:19-20 in CCC 1365; Lk 22:19 in CCC 610, 611, 621 and 1328; Lk 22:20 in CCC 612; Lk 22:26-27 in CCC 894; Lk 22:27 in CCC 1570; Lk 22:28-30 in CCC 787; Lk 22:29-30 in CCC 551; Lk 22:30 in CCC 765; Lk 22:31-32 in CCC 641 and 643; Lk 22:32 in CCC 162, 552, and 2600; Lk 22:40 in CCC 2612; Lk 22:41-44 in CCC 2600; Lk 22:42 in CCC 532, 2605, and 2824; Lk 22:43 in CCC 333; Lk 22:44 in CCC 2806; Lk 22:46 in CCC 2612; Lk 22:61 in CCC 1429; Lk 22:70 in CCC 443; Lk 23:2 in CCC 596; Lk 23:19 in CCC 596; Lk 23:28 in CCC 2635; Lk 23:34 in CCC 591, 597, 2605, and 2635; Lk 23:39-43 in CCC 440 and 2616; Lk 23:40-43 in CCC 2266; Lk 23:43 in CCC 1021; Lk 23:46 in CCC 730, 1011, and 2045; and Lk 23:47 in CCC 441.

April 19, Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil

Verses from this evening’s nine Readings (not counting the Responsorial Psalms and optional Readings) are cited in so many CCC paragraphs (forty one citations from the First Reading alone) that there are too many citations to be included in this column.

April 20, The Resurrection of the Lord, the Mass of Easter Day

Easter is “the Feast of feasts” (CCC 1169) since “[t]he Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ” (CCC 638). Although either of today’s Gospels is only about the empty tomb, and there is much more to the Resurrection, “[t]he first element we encounter in the framework of the Easter events is the empty tomb,” from which we should realize “that the absence of Jesus’ body could not have been of human doing and that Jesus had not simply returned to earthly life as had been the case with Lazarus” (CCC 640).

• From the First Reading (Acts 10:34a, 37-43): Acts 10:38 is cited in CCC 438, 453, 486, and 1289; Acts 10:39 in CCC 597; Acts 10:41 in CCC 659 and 995; and Acts 10:42 in CCC 679.
• From the Responsorial Psalm (Psalms 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23): Ps 118:22 is cited in CCC 587 and 756.
• From the Second Reading (Colossians 3:1-4): Col 3:1-3 is cited in CCC 655; Col 3:1 in CCC 1002; Col 3:3 in CCC 665, 1003, 1420, and 2796; Col 3:4 in CCC 1003 and 2772. OR from the Second Reading (1 Corinthians 5:6b-8): 1 Cor 5:6-8 is cited in CCC 129; and 1 Cor 5:7 in CCC 608, 610, and 613.
• From the Alleluia (1 Corinthians 5:7b-8a): see above.
• From the Gospel (John 20:1-9): Jn 20:1 is cited in CCC 2174; Jn 20:2 in CCC 640; Jn 20:5-7 in CCC 640; Jn 20:6 in CCC 640; Jn 20:7 in CCC 515; and Jn 20:8 in CCC 640 OR (Luke 24:1-12): Lk 24:1 in CCC 641 and 2174; Lk 24:3 in CCC 640; Lk 24:5-6 in CCC 626 and 640; Lk 24:6-7 in CCC 652; Lk 24:9-10 in CCC 641; Lk 24:11 in CCC 643; and Lk 24:12 in CCC 640.

April 27, The Second Sunday of Easter – Divine Mercy Sunday

As the Apostles bore witness to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, as in the First Reading, it remains true that “[t]o be a witness to Christ is to be a witness to his Resurrection” (CCC 995). We need, therefore, to understand Jesus’ Resurrection.

First, “it is impossible not to acknowledge [Christ’s Resurrection] as an historical fact” (CCC 643). The Apostles’ “faith in the Resurrection was born, under the action of divine grace, from their direct experience of the reality of the risen Jesus” (CCC 644).

And what is this reality? Jesus “showed them his hands and his side” (John 20:20) which reveals that “he is not a ghost” and that ”the risen body in which he appears to them is the same body that had been tortured and crucified” (CCC 645). However, “when the doors were locked . . . Jesus came and stood in their midst” (John 20:19) means that Jesus’ “authentic, real body possesses the new properties of a glorious body: not limited by space and time but able to be present how and when he wills” (CCC 645). Unlike Lazarus raised from the dead, the Risen Christ no longer grows older; gets sick, injured, and tired; or needs food, water, clothing, and shelter. The Risen Christ even conquers death and will never die.

Just as the Risen Christ has an eternal body that is both physical and yet supernatural, so will everyone on the Last Day. Eternity for all persons will include not just their souls, but also their transformed bodies (CCC 655). “All the dead will rise, ‘those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment’” (CCC 998). This will happen at Christ’s Second Coming (CCC 1001). The “resurrection of life” places them in the Kingdom of God. The “resurrection of judgment” places them in Hell. Everyone will have eternal bodies and souls whether they are in the Kingdom or in Hell. These are the only two possibilities not only for those who have died before Christ comes again, but also for those who are living when He comes again.

In the Second Reading today, St. John tells us that we love God if we keep His commandments. God’s commandments are made clearest in Catholic Doctrine. The extent to which we accept and practice Catholic Doctrine (knowingly or unknowingly), is the extent to which we love God. There is no view or understanding of giving and receiving love, whether love of God or love of others, that is superior to the understanding of love in Catholic Doctrine.

The First Reading seems to endorse socialism. Its real meaning, like all of Sacred Scripture, is clarified in Catholic Doctrine. CCC 2402-2436 presents Catholic Doctrine on ownership and economics, which might best be summarized: “The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies [of] ‘communism’ or ‘socialism.’ She has likewise refused to accept, in the practice of ‘capitalism,’ individualism and the absolute primacy of the law of the marketplace . . . (CCC 2425).” Love means rejecting socialism as well as unbridled capitalism. Love means respecting both liberty and the common good.

• From the First Reading (Acts 4:32-35): Acts 4:32 is cited in CCC 952 and 2790; and Acts 4:33 in CCC 995.
• From the Responsorial Psalm (Psalms 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24): Ps 118:14 is cited in CCC 1808; and Ps 118:22 in CCC 587 and 756.
• From the Second Reading (1 John 5:1-6): 1 Jn 5:1 is cited in CCC 2780 and 2790.
• From the Alleluia (John 20:29): see below.
• From the Gospel (John 20:19-31): Jn 20:19 is cited in CCC 575, 643, 645, and 659; Jn 20:20 in CCC 645; Jn 20:21-23 in CCC 1087, 1120, and 1441; Jn 20:21 in CCC 730 and 858; Jn 20:22-23 in CCC 976 and 1485; Jn 20:22 in CCC 730, 788, and 1287; Jn 20:23 in CCC 1461 and 2839; Jn 20:24-27 in CCC 644; Jn 20:26 in CCC 645 and 659; Jn 20:27 in CCC 645; Jn 20:28 in CCC 448; Jn 20:30 in CCC 514; and Jn 20:31 in CCC 442 and 514.

[1] There are too many citations, or references, in the Catechism to the verses in a month of Sunday Mass readings to identify all the pertinent doctrines, so I will use my best judgment to select which verses and doctrines to cover in a column that may not exceed 2,000 words. The bullet points allow you to explore further the Biblical basis of Catholic Doctrine.

[2] CCC abbreviates Catechism of the Catholic Church. Any number after it is the number of a paragraph in the Catechism. For example, “CCC 2425” means paragraph 2425 of the Catechism.

[3] If a Reading is not listed, then none of its verses is cited by the CCC.