The Resurrection of the Lord
The Mass of Easter Day
Readings for Easter Sunday[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible at Universalis
Commentary:
Reading 1 Acts 10:34a, 37-43
This is part of Peter’s speech to Cornelius and his family (Gentiles). Peter (according to St. Luke) assumes the people know what has happened – namely that Jesus who was thought to be the Messiah, had proven that fact in the resurrection. Now he reminds them, before the creed was written that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
Or Alleluia.
Appropriately, Psalm 118 is a song of thanksgiving emphasizing the fidelity of God. The final strophe gives a reminder that God’s only Son was rejected and, in the resurrection, became the cornerstone of all creation.
Reading II Col 3:1-4
Paul gives assurance to the Colossians that they too have a home with Christ who now is seated at the right hand of the Father. In saying this, he points their aspirations to the things of heaven.
Or I Cor 5:6b-8
Paul calls the Corinthians to conversion with a metaphor. He uses the duel meaning or implication of leaven bread and the feast of the Passover to symbolize the new covenant. The traditional Passover meal or Seder is lamb and unleavened bread. Christ, the Lamb of God in the unleavened bread of the Eucharist is their meal.
Gospel Jn 20:1-9
In St. John’s account of the discovery of the “Empty Tomb” we hear how the disciple whom Jesus loved understood what had come to pass before Peter. Found also in Luke, this story furnishes the testimony that confirms Christ’s resurrection.
Reflection:
He is Risen!
The forty days of preparation have ended and we celebrate the greatest feast of the Church. Jesus Christ The Gospel of St. John tells the story of the foot race between St. Peter and another (much younger) disciple, probably St. John himself. They rush to the grave because Mary Magdala has told them something astonishing. She has been to the Tomb and it was empty!
They had to see for themselves. It had been three days and they could not have gone earlier because they were forbidden to make that journey on the Sabbath. What did they think as they ran? Were they fighting with their faith? Did they believe that what Jesus had been telling them all along had come to pass or could have been the Romans or even the Temple guards that took the body, still not prepared for proper burial to some other place, further humiliating the Lord after his death.
What do we believe and what does that mean for us? If we believe that Christ has risen as he told us repeatedly that he would, then we understand him the be the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God who as Paul and Luke both tell us, now sits at the right had of the Father in the seat of Justice. If that is our belief, first we celebrate that event joyfully today. Not just because our long fast has ended, but once more the Church proclaims throughout the world that salvation is there for the asking. The great “Alleluia” has sounded and we are called to echo that joyous sound that the world will know and come to believe, “For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”
Pax
[1] After 05/07
[2] The image today is “Peter and John run to the grave” by James Tissot, 1886-96
The Mass of Easter Day
Readings for Easter Sunday[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible at Universalis
Commentary:
Reading 1 Acts 10:34a, 37-43
This is part of Peter’s speech to Cornelius and his family (Gentiles). Peter (according to St. Luke) assumes the people know what has happened – namely that Jesus who was thought to be the Messiah, had proven that fact in the resurrection. Now he reminds them, before the creed was written that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
Or Alleluia.
Appropriately, Psalm 118 is a song of thanksgiving emphasizing the fidelity of God. The final strophe gives a reminder that God’s only Son was rejected and, in the resurrection, became the cornerstone of all creation.
Reading II Col 3:1-4
Paul gives assurance to the Colossians that they too have a home with Christ who now is seated at the right hand of the Father. In saying this, he points their aspirations to the things of heaven.
Or I Cor 5:6b-8
Paul calls the Corinthians to conversion with a metaphor. He uses the duel meaning or implication of leaven bread and the feast of the Passover to symbolize the new covenant. The traditional Passover meal or Seder is lamb and unleavened bread. Christ, the Lamb of God in the unleavened bread of the Eucharist is their meal.
Gospel Jn 20:1-9
In St. John’s account of the discovery of the “Empty Tomb” we hear how the disciple whom Jesus loved understood what had come to pass before Peter. Found also in Luke, this story furnishes the testimony that confirms Christ’s resurrection.
Reflection:
He is Risen!
The forty days of preparation have ended and we celebrate the greatest feast of the Church. Jesus Christ The Gospel of St. John tells the story of the foot race between St. Peter and another (much younger) disciple, probably St. John himself. They rush to the grave because Mary Magdala has told them something astonishing. She has been to the Tomb and it was empty!
They had to see for themselves. It had been three days and they could not have gone earlier because they were forbidden to make that journey on the Sabbath. What did they think as they ran? Were they fighting with their faith? Did they believe that what Jesus had been telling them all along had come to pass or could have been the Romans or even the Temple guards that took the body, still not prepared for proper burial to some other place, further humiliating the Lord after his death.
What do we believe and what does that mean for us? If we believe that Christ has risen as he told us repeatedly that he would, then we understand him the be the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God who as Paul and Luke both tell us, now sits at the right had of the Father in the seat of Justice. If that is our belief, first we celebrate that event joyfully today. Not just because our long fast has ended, but once more the Church proclaims throughout the world that salvation is there for the asking. The great “Alleluia” has sounded and we are called to echo that joyous sound that the world will know and come to believe, “For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”
Pax
[1] After 05/07
[2] The image today is “Peter and John run to the grave” by James Tissot, 1886-96
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