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| “Resurrection” by Luca Giordano, after 1665 |
"You know what has happened all over
beginning in
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.
We are witnesses of all that he did
both in the country of the Jews and in
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.
This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible,
not to all the people, but to us,
the witnesses chosen by God in advance,
who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
He commissioned us to preach to the people
and testify that he is the one appointed by God
as judge of the living and the dead.
To him all the prophets bear witness,
that everyone who believes in him
will receive forgiveness of sins through his name."
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Commentary on Acts 10:34a, 37-43
He goes further, explaining that his apostles are also called to spread that word through preaching: to take what they have been given, the Good News of Christ and him crucified, into the world. This call, St. Peter explains, is so all peoples might come to know and understand that God has fulfilled the promise he made through the prophets by providing a sacrifice of atonement, his Only Begotten Son Jesus, and that belief in him will lead to reconciliation to the Father through the forgiveness of sins.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Alleluia.
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of
"His mercy endures forever."
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
Alleluia.
the right hand of the LORD is exalted.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD."
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
Alleluia.
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or: Alleluia.
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Commentary on Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
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Reading II: Colossians 3:1-4
If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.
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Commentary on Col 3:1-4
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Or: 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8
Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?
Clear out the old yeast,
so that you may become a fresh batch of dough,
inasmuch as you are unleavened.
For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,
not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
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Commentary on 1 Cor 5:6b-8
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Gospel: John 20:1-9
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
"They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don't know where they put him."
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead.
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Commentary on John 20:1-9
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Or:
From the Vigil Mass Mark 16:1-7
Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome
bought spices so that they might go and anoint him.
Very early when the sun had risen,
on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb.
They were saying to one another, "Who will roll back the stone for us
from the entrance to the tomb?"
When they looked up,
they saw that the stone had been rolled back;
it was very large.
On entering the tomb they saw a young man
sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe,
and they were utterly amazed.
He said to them, "Do not be amazed!
You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified.
He has been raised; he is not here.
Behold the place where they laid him.
But go and tell his disciples and Peter,
'He is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see him, as he told you.'"
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Commentary on Mk 16:1-7
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Or:
At an afternoon or evening Mass: Luke 24:13-35
two of Jesus' disciples were going
to a village seven miles from
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
"What are you discussing as you walk along?"
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
"Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?"
And he replied to them, "What sort of things?"
They said to him,
"The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see."
And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?"
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, "Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over."
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
"Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?"
So they set out at once and returned to
the eleven and those with them who were saying,
"The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!"
Then the two recounted
what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.
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Commentary on Lk 24:13-35
It appears these disciples thought the unknown stranger joining them was "ignorant of events." They begin to explain their understanding of events. Here one of the travelers is named "Clopas." This is likely to be Luke's source for the event and it was probably his wife who stood by the cross in St. John's Gospel. (John 19:25) [8] It is clear from the disciples' dialogue that they do not understand the true mission of the Lord, nor that he was the long-awaited Messiah whose mission is the redemption of mankind.
"In the course of their conversation with Jesus, the disciples' mood changes from sadness to joy; they begin to hope again, and feel the need to share their joy with others, thus becoming heralds and witnesses of the risen Christ." [9]
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Reflection:
Having considered what would have happened historically if there had been no Risen Christ to bring light into the world, let us consider our current circumstances where we watch as those who hate the light try to extinguish it. There is a great passage in the Book of Wisdom, commonly used in funeral Masses that captures the essence of what we now face.
The souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction. (Wisdom 3:1-3)
This is the Attitude, this lack of hope for the future, that colors the thinking of those who wish to redefine morality for us. They tell us that we are foolish to believe in Jesus whom they claim to be at best a mere man and at worst simply an invented myth. They cannot believe that there is a God who so loves his creation, each and every one of us, that he would send his Son into the world to be a sacrifice that would open the doors of a heavenly kingdom where there is eternal life. How can they have hope? They believe there is no loving God, no eternal peace. They would have us believe also there are no consequences for amoral behavior.
For those of us who have the strength and courage to combat this secular push to disavow Christ, we must live as the early Christians depicted in the Acts of the Apostles, Colossians, and 1 Corinthians with belief that the Lord raised up our Savior so that we could find forgiveness and rejoice in the love, so powerful that it created all that is to give us a home.
Today we recall this miraculous gift. Christ was raised from the dead, the firstborn of all the dead. He brought with him all those who had died before him without hope. He comes to us now in his glorified body, he reassures us of the promise he made – He is going before us to prepare a place in his Heavenly Kingdom and he has left us the Holy Spirit, his divine presence, in-dwelling, to guide and sustain us until we return to him.
For today, we remember with great joy the peace he left us in this life and the promise of life in the next. We remember the joy of the first disciples at learning this wondrous news and share in their rejoicing as we recall all that Jesus Christ has done for us.
He is Risen!
[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture used today is “Resurrection” by Luca Giordano, after 1665.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[5] The Navarre Bible, Gospels and Acts, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 699.
[6] See NAB footnote on Mk 16:1-8.
[7] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, pp.321-22.
[8] The Gospel of Luke by Pablo T. Gadenz © 2018, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids MI, p.395.
[9] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 513.
[2] The picture used today is “Resurrection” by Luca Giordano, after 1665.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[5] The Navarre Bible, Gospels and Acts, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 699.
[6] See NAB footnote on Mk 16:1-8.
[7] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, pp.321-22.
[8] The Gospel of Luke by Pablo T. Gadenz © 2018, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids MI, p.395.
[9] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 513.
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