FIRST READING
Acts 10:34a, 37–43
Peter proceeded to speak and said: “You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism 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 Jerusalem. 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.”
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 118:1–2, 16–17, 22–23 (24)
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. or R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Israel say, “His mercy endures forever.”
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. or R. Alleluia.
“The right hand of the LORD has struck with power; 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 R. Alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected 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 R. Alleluia.
SECOND READING
Colossians 3:1–4
Brothers and sisters:
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.
or:
1 Corinthians 5:6b–8
Brothers and sisters:
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.
SEQUENCE
Victimae paschali laudes
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems; Christ, who only is sinless, Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous: The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal. Speak, Mary, declaring What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living, the glory of Jesus’ resurrection;
Bright angels attesting, the shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen; to Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining. Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning! Amen. Alleluia.
ALLELUIA
see 1 Corinthians 5:7b–8a
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed; let us then feast with joy in the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
John 20:1–9
On the first day of the week, 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.
or at an afternoon or evening mass:
Luke 24:13–35
That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, 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 Jerusalem where they found gathered together 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.
Early Sunday morning the women went to the
tomb to pay their last tribute to a dead body. The disciples thought that
everything had finished in tragedy. Neither were ready to see an empty
tomb and hear the angel's message, Why do you seek the living
among the dead (Luke 24:5)? Mary Magdalene is the first to report the
startling news of the empty tomb! She assumed that Jesus' body had been
stolen! She was not yet prepared to meet the risen Lord who would reveal
himself to her while she later lingered in the garden near the tomb (John
20:11-18).
What is the significance of the stone being rolled away? It would have
taken several people to roll away such a stone. And besides, the sealed
tomb had been guarded by soldiers! This is clearly the first sign of the
resurrection. Bede, a church father from the 8th century, comments: "[The
angel] rolled back the stone not to throw open a way for our Lord to come
forth, but to provide evidence to people that he had already come forth.
As the virgin's womb was closed, so the sepulcher was closed, yet he entered
the world through her closed womb, and so he left the world through the
closed sepulcher." (From Homilies on the Gospels 2,7,24)
Another church father remarked: "To behold the resurrection, the stone
must first be rolled away from our hearts" (Peter Chrysologus,
5th century). It is significant that the disciples had to
first deal with the empty tomb before they could come to grips with the
fact that scripture had foretold that Jesus would die for our sins and
then rise triumphant. They disbelieved until they saw the empty tomb.
John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, wrote his gospel as an eye-witness
of the Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us, and who died
and rose for our salvation. John was the only apostle, along with the women
who stood with Jesus at the foot of the cross, who witnessed Jesus' death
on Good Friday. Now John is the first of the apostles, along with Peter,
to see the empty tomb on Easter Sunday morning, after the women returned
and gave their report. What did John see in the tomb that led him to believe
in the resurrection of Jesus? It was certainly not a dead body. The dead
body of Jesus would have disproven the resurrection and made his death
a tragic conclusion to a glorious career as a great teacher and miracle
worker. When John saw the empty tomb he must have recalled Jesus' prophecy
that he would rise again after three days. Through the gift of faith John
realized that no tomb on earth could contain the Lord and giver of life.
John in his first epistle testifies: What we have seen, heard, and
touched we proclaim as the word of life which existed "from the beginning"
(1
John 1:1-4). John bears witness to what has existed from all eternity.
This "word of life" is Jesus the word incarnate, but also Jesus as the
word announced by the prophets and Jesus the word now preached throughout
the Christian church for all ages to come. One thing is certain, if Jesus
had not risen from the dead and appeared to his disciples, we would never
have heard of him. Nothing else could have changed sad and despairing men
and women into people radiant with joy and courage. The reality of the
resurrection is the central fact of the Christian faith. Through the gift
of the Holy Spirit, the Lord gives us "eyes of faith" to know him and the
power of his resurrection. The greatest joy we can have is to encounter
the living Lord and to know him personally. Do you celebrate the feast
of Easter with joy and thanksgiving for the victory which Jesus has won
for you over sin and death?
"Lord Jesus Christ, you have triumphed over the grave and you have won
new life for us. Give me the eyes of faith to see you in your glory. Help
me to draw near to you and to grow in the knowledge of your great love
and victory over sin and death."
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