Friday within the Octave of Easter
Solemnity
- Feast Day
- April 10
Friday within the Octave of Easter is celebrated as a Solemnity of the Lord. Because every day of the Octave ranks as a solemnity, the obligation of Friday abstinence does not apply (Code of Canon Law, c. 1251).
The Gospel proclaimed is John 21:1-14, the appearance of the risen Christ to seven disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, the miraculous catch of one hundred fifty-three fish, and the meal of bread and fish that Christ prepares for them on the shore. This is the third resurrection appearance recorded in the Fourth Gospel.
The first reading is Acts 4:1-12, in which Peter and John are arrested for proclaiming the resurrection and Peter declares before the Sanhedrin that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
The Gospel of Easter Friday narrates the missionary commissioning of the apostolic Church through the Petrine catch of fish, traditionally read by the Fathers as a figure of the universal mission of the Church. The number one hundred fifty-three, mentioned with unusual specificity in the Gospel, was interpreted by Saint Jerome as representing all the kinds of fish then known, signifying the gathering of all peoples into the net of the Church.
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