Second
Reading - Colossians 3:1-4 ©
Sequence
- Victimae Paschali Laudes
Gospel
Acclamation - 1Corinthians 5:7-8
The
Gospel According to John 20:1-9 ©
(NJB)
Receive
the Easter message:
Follow
Jesus.
Do
good.
Love
justice.
Be
merciful; be a source of healing in the world.
This
is the way of Easter; place your hopes in it and believe in the way.
The
way
is the law, and the law is life.
God’s
law is written in hearts. God speaks to us there, do not doubt it.
This
is the good news.
The
Creator of the universe, and everything in it, God speaks to us in terms of
love and mercy, God instructs us in the way of kindness.
All
other versions of the law are merely reflections of the divine law, dim and
imperfect.
God’s
law is like a living flame. Look into the flames and see the truth shimmering
there, wrapping itself around the coals.
It
is good to uphold God’s law, to demonstrate mercy and compassion through right
living, it is a blessing to everyone.
We
are truly alive in the world. Our faith calls on us to live as if we believed
that the promise of our salvation were true, as if it were true already accomplished
and accomplished full.
This
is the meaning of the Gospel, the good news that Christ has risen. To possess Christian
faith is trust in this proposition, it is trust in the belief that you, and
everyone, will rise as Christ did, not in a transactional way, as an exchange
for our “belief,” but merely because God loves us.
Imagine
the holy family of God, God who created the universe and everything in it. Imagine
the holy family, by which I mean the entirety of creation. Imagine all of us
living in the garden now; at peace, without want or enmity, living in that
place where we are able to see clearly, that our relationships with each other
are more important than gold, political power or any other earthly treasure.
Celebrate
the feast of Easter, take part in it and accept the way that Jesus
pointed instructed us to follow, the way he showed us through his life, his
death and resurrection. It does not matter if any of it is literally true, or
not.
Believe
in it, even in the dark times, even in times as dark as the first Sunday
morning, when Mary Magdala came to the tomb.
They
were at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified. It was Mary Magdala who
anointed him for burial, she was the first to receive the revelation that Jesus
had risen.
It
was dark when she arrived at the tomb, but not completely, and in the dim light
of morning she saw a hint of the truth that would unfold as the sun rose to fill
the day with light.
She
saw the stone rolled away from the tomb and found the tomb empty.
At
first she assumed that someone had come and removed the body of Jesus, taken him
and hidden him somewhere.
She
hurried to find the others, to tell them what she had found.
When
the other disciples arrived on the scene and explored the empty tomb for
themselves, the understanding of what had transpired began to take hold among
them.
They
saw the empty tomb, the burial garments cast aside, and they understood that
Jesus had been raised from the dead.
On
that belief, and on the strength of their witness the Church was born
Know
this, the Church was not built on the foundation of Peter’s faith, which
faltered and failed on the night Jesus was arrested. It was built on the faith
of women, like Mary and the others women who never abandoned Jesus, who did
everything in their power to make the path that was in front of him smooth.
Throughout
his ministry it was the women among his disciples who understood his mission, who
fully comprehended the power of his message, including the necessity of
responding to it in faith. They responded with trust, not with propositions and
creeds, but with actions and their living witness; the women in Jesus’ company
were never confused about his mission. They always understood how it would end.
While
his male disciples tripped over themselves, doubted him, doubted each other,
vied for supremacy, betrayed him, denied him, sold him into captivity; while
all of that was going on, the women were steadfast by his side, comforting him,
tending to him easing the burden of what lay ahead.
They
anointed him, they witnessed his trial, they set aside their fear, they stood
by him as he was crucified, they buried him, they waited by the tomb, they
prayed for him and they were the first to see him risen.
They
followed him to the end, as an example to us all.
First Reading - Acts
10:34,37-43 ©
'We Have Eaten and Drunk
with Him After His Resurrection'
Peter
addressed Cornelius and his household: ‘You must have heard about the recent
happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee,
after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy
Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing
good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil. Now I, and
those with me, can witness to everything he did throughout the countryside of
Judaea and in Jerusalem itself: and also to the fact that they killed him by
hanging him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him to life and
allowed him to be seen, not by the whole people but only by certain witnesses
God had chosen beforehand. Now we are those witnesses – we have eaten and
drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead – and he has ordered
us to proclaim this to his people and to tell them that God has appointed him
to judge everyone, alive or dead. It is to him that all the prophets bear this
witness: that all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through
his name.’
Responsorial
Psalm - Psalm 117(118):1-2,16-17,22-23 ©
This
day was made by the Lord: we rejoice and are glad.
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia!
Give thanks to the Lord
for he is good,
for his love
has no end.
Let the sons of Israel
say:
‘His love has
no end.’
This
day was made by the Lord: we rejoice and are glad.
The Lord’s right hand has
triumphed;
his right
hand raised me up.
I shall not die, I shall
live
and recount
his deeds.
This
day was made by the Lord: we rejoice and are glad.
The stone which the
builders rejected
has become
the corner stone.
This is the work of the
Lord,
a marvel in
our eyes.
This
day was made by the Lord: we rejoice and are glad.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Second Reading - Colossians
3:1-4 ©
Look for the Things that Are
in Heaven, where Christ Is
Since
you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the
things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let
your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth,
because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God.
But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be
revealed in all your glory with him.
Victimae
Paschali Laudes
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
offer
sacrifice and praise.
The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;
and Christ, the undefiled,
hath sinners to his Father reconciled.
Death with life contended:
combat
strangely ended!
Life’s own Champion, slain,
yet lives to
reign.
Tell us, Mary:
say what
thou didst see
upon the
way.
The tomb the Living did enclose;
I saw Christ’s glory as he rose!
The angels there attesting;
shroud with grave-clothes resting.
Christ, my hope, has risen:
he goes before you into Galilee.
That Christ is truly risen
from the
dead we know.
Victorious king, thy mercy show!
Gospel Acclamation - 1Cor5:7-8
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Christ,
our passover, has been sacrificed:
let
us celebrate the feast then, in the Lord.
Alleluia!
The Gospel According to
John 20:1-9 ©
He Must Rise from the Dead
It
was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of
Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the
tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus
loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know
where they have put him.’
So
Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but
the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent
down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon
Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen
cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was
not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other
disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.
Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that
he must rise from the dead.
Holy Week, Easter Sunday
(Year A) A Holy Day of Obligation
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