A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”

cf. Lk 6:45

Easter Sunday of the resurrection of the lord

by Reason2bCatholic

It’s a stubborn point in fact that Christians profess the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This story is so familiar to us that we can sometimes lose sight of how stunning it must have been for Jesus’ closest disciples to arrive at his burial place, only to find an empty tomb. For, as the Gospel writer John points out, they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead (Jn 20:9).

Yet, what today we may take for granted, these same disciples – these Apostles of Jesus Christ – would later lay down their lives for the truth of what they believed, for the truth of what they professed, for the truth of who they would come to know as died, buried, and risen from the dead. The Christian martyrs down through the centuries are the heroic witnesses of this Profession of Faith. 

Jesus Christ invites each of us – He invites all of us – to new life. We begin by opening our hearts to him in the mystery of the Resurrection. Two-thousand years later there are many who, for whatever reasons, do not believe, they do not profess, they do not yet recognize with the eyes of faith. But we, by virtue of our baptism, are called to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ, truly risen from the dead for the salvation of the world, to the world that still lives in darkness.

Jesus is the Light of the World. Easter morning he opened heaven for the salvation of all who come to believe in him.

Be not afraid! Jesus is waiting for you when you find nothing else in this world satisfies you.

For a Gospel reflection from John’s account of the empty tomb please enjoy below.

Peace be with you!

Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb.”

cf. Gospel of Mark 16:2

Gospel

LISTEN:  He had to rise from the dead.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to 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.

The Gospel of the Lord

REFLECTION 

by Bishop Robert Barron

Friends, our Easter Gospel contains St. John’s magnificent account of the Resurrection.

Three key lessons follow from the disquieting fact of the Resurrection. First, this world is not all there is. The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows as definitively as possible that God is up to something greater than we had imagined. We don’t have to live as though death were our master and as though nihilism were the only coherent point of view. We can, in fact, begin to see this world as a place of gestation toward something higher, more permanent, more splendid.

Second, the tyrants know that their time is up. Remember that the cross was Rome’s way of asserting its authority. But when Jesus was raised from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit, the first Christians knew that Caesar’s days were, in point of fact, numbered. The faculty lounge interpretation of the Resurrection as a subjective event or a mere symbol is exactly what the tyrants of the world want, for it poses no real threat to them.

Third, the path of salvation has been opened to everyone. Jesus went all the way down, journeying into pain, despair, alienation, even godforsakenness. He went as far as you can go away from the Father. Why? In order to reach all those who had wandered from God. In light of the Resurrection, the first Christians came to know that, even as we run as fast as we can away from the Father, we are running into the arms of the Son.

Let us not domesticate these still-stunning lessons of the Resurrection. Rather, let us allow them to unnerve us, change us, and set us on fire.

Reflect: Why is the Resurrection really the startling “Good News” of the Gospel? How does it give you hope to celebrate it today?

Credit: Daily Lenten Gospel Reflections, Bishop Robert Barron, April 4, 2021; Word on Fire, https://www.wordonfire.org. 

Information herein posted under the "rules of fair use" to foster education and discussion in accordance with Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976.

SUNDAY SERMON: A VIDEO GOSPEL REFLECTION

Friends, I want to wish a very blessed and peaceful Easter to you. In today’s victorious and triumphant Gospel, we hear the fanfares announce in the most unambiguous way that God, the sworn enemy of death, has overcome the powers of sin through his sovereignty: Jesus has risen from the dead.

As we rejoice with Christ, we are asked to share the Good News of Easter: Jesus is Lord of all things—even sin and death; Jesus’ claims about himself are indubitably proven and ratified; God’s love is more powerful than anything in the world.”

Bishop Robert Barron

The Holy Scriptures were not given to us that we should enclose them in books, but that we should engrave them upon our hearts.”

Saint John Chrysostom

 

Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

Saint Jerome (ca. 347 – 420 A.D.), Father and Doctor of the Church

 

Jesus, Word Incarnate, help me to know you.

Be not afraid! And may the peace of Christ be with you and your loved ones today and always.  Holy Family, pray for us.  Amen.