Introduction to the Liturgy of the Day

Rejoice! This is the day that the Lord has made. God’s love and mercy have been poured out for all and to all. By his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus has conquered sin and defeated death. No longer do sin and death have power over us. A new day dawns, for new life has dawned for all of us: a life in God’s tender loving care that survives sin and overcomes death. Jesus has shown us the way to the Father. The crosses we carry—our fears and our struggles, our sorrows and our traumas—are united with the cross of our Lord, which did not end in pain and death but with joy and life. May the promise of the Resurrection fill us with hope, enliven our lives, and lead us to life eternal. Alleluia!
 

Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word

The readings we hear today celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. Saints Peter and Paul bring the good news of the Resurrection to the Gentiles, Peter giving eyewitness testimony of his time with Jesus before and after his death and resurrection, while Paul points out that the Resurrection transforms our lives. In the Gospel, neither angels nor the risen Lord appear to the first visitors to the tomb to testify to the Resurrection, but the disciple Jesus loves believes at once. May God’s word guide us to belief as well.
 

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

In holy remembrance and with Easter joy we offer this great prayer of thanksgiving to the God who raised Jesus from the dead.
 

Reflection

• The disciple whom Jesus loved is a model for all of us, for he believed before he understood. After all, the Resurrection is an event beyond human understanding. Science and logic cannot explain the mystery that is fully known to God alone. But this doesn’t mean that the mystery hasn’t been revealed to us at all. Jesus revealed glimpses of the mystery throughout his mission. He raised up those who were put down or shut out by society, whether by sin, disability, or disrepute—those whom others were unwilling to engage. He raised the girl thought dead and Lazarus, four days in the tomb. He repeatedly told his disciples that he himself would be raised on the third day. The disciple Jesus loved could not explain what happened, but he believed that it was true.

 

• Again and again over the last three years we have longed for a return to normal, a return to what it was like before COVID-19. It is an understandable sentiment, considering the difficult changes and traumatic losses we’ve suffered in our everyday lives. But let Saint Paul’s words to the Corinthians point us in a different direction. “Clear out the old yeast,” he told them, “so that you may become a fresh batch of dough” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Easter does not point us to the past, but to the future. The Resurrection is not a resuscitation, but a transformation. The disciples did not return to their lives from three years before, to fishing and collecting taxes and hanging around Galilee. No, their lives were transformed. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they preached the gospel and made disciples of all nations. In them, new yeast rose.

 

• Where were all the other disciples besides Mary of Magdala, Peter, and John? Quite possibly they were in hiding, fearful that they could be prosecuted and jailed (or worse) if they were identified as friends of the agitator whom the authorities had just crucified. Locked in their hiding places, they were nearly as entombed as Jesus had been. They needed to be raised as well. God raised Jesus from the dead, then also soon raised the disciples from their self-imposed tombs. Once raised, they were able to continue Jesus’ mission, preaching the gospel, baptizing the eager, and making disciples of all nations. This is our challenge as well. We may not be in hiding, but we may be overwhelmed by the darkness that envelops our world. In the face of violence and discord, illness and death, we may feel that the dawn will never come. We look to our God who raises the dead, the disciples in their hiding-place tombs as well as the literally dead, to restore us to life, to restore us to living.

 

Question of the Week

How has my life been transformed since three years ago? What can I make new in my life, in my community, in the world?