CHRIST IS RISEN

Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord
Lectionary: 42

Reading 1 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 Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23.

R. (24) 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.

Reading 2 Col 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 I Cor 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 Cf. 1 Cor 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 Jn 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.

My Brothers and Sisters,

We are Children of the Resurrection. Today our lives have been raised up to the highest of the heights through the celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are partakers in everything that He has given us. It is through His Passion and Resurrection that we as Christians can discover who we truly are. There is no limit to what we can achieve and enjoy as long as we keep Jesus Christ central in our lives. God created us in His own image. His love envelopes us and all of His creation in His soft caress. Jesus welcomes us into an intimate relationship with Him and the Father defined by what was given to us freely and with no preconditions: Eternal Life and Salvation.

We are encouraged to place ourselves in the roll of Peter and John running to the tomb where nothing remains but a burial cloth. What was thought to be the end turns out to be the beginning of a new life and a new understanding of what is to come. Through the Resurrection we are all transformed into a new creation. What was before is gone; destroyed completely and never to be remembered. The past is the past which can never be changed. It does not have to define us or impeded us in our journey forward. Whatever was done or experienced has no power over us. There is no limitation to what we can achieve through Jesus Christ. We walk with Him and relate with Him in such a way that will lead us to greatness if only we allow it to do so.

When Jesus died, we died with Him. When He was resurrected, we were resurrected with Him. His presence is within all of us. He has claimed us as His own. This may have occurred immediately when we were conceived in our mother’s womb but it is only realized through our understanding of the Resurrection. That is why we lifted up our crosses to journey with Him to Calvary. That is why we shared His pain and torment as He shared ours. It is then that, after three days in the tomb, all of that pain and suffering is washed away and His glory is revealed. This indeed happened at a particular time and particular place but is also occurring perpetually through all of time and space. Christ is resurrected and with Him we are also. We die with Him and are resurrected with Him. This celebration is a reminder of all of that.

So here we are. As a Christian Community we suffer together. We take each others’ crosses and carry them as our own. We also take each others’ successes and link them to the Resurrection. Everything that we say and do within the perspective of the Resurrection will always bring forth satisfaction and inexplicable joy. When we act out our faith and come to this understanding we will encounter a complacency in our lives which in grounded in the fact that we are with Jesus. In the end, this is all that matters. As long as we are walking with Jesus, we will be safe and secure wherever we find ourselves.

We all have goals and aspirations. There are things that we all have to work on in our lives. Daily, as we continue to grow our relationship with Jesus Christ, we can examine our conscious and welcome Jesus into the confusion of our life; offering an invitation to Him to help us make sense of everything. Being receptive to what He has to say and to His actions will help us understand the Resurrected Christ more fully. Understanding leads to revelations which then lead to the right path and right choices. There will still be mistakes but these then become more easily acknowledged and corrected. Being with Jesus means that He is in control and not us. Yes, the statement “Let go and let God,” does indeed apply. Our participation in the Resurrection gives us the opportunity to reduce our pride and ego to a point where we can readily dismiss it when confronted with our God. Who are we compared to Him who made and loved all things? Shouldn’t it be comforting to know that we can rely on Our Creator to guide us and protect us? Just give Him a chance.

Jesus Christ is asking us to go to Him. There is no demand but an invitation that begs us to take. Think about this: Our God is asking us to love Him. Our God is asking us to let Him heal us. Our God is asking that we accept salvation. What a wonderful opportunity and experience we are offered.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

WE ARE RISEN!

Deacon Tom