Sunday, April 20, 2014

Easter Sunday – Cycle A (April 20, 2014)


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.”
 

Second reading: Col. 3: 1-4
“Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek 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.”
 

Gospel reading: 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.”

 

Introductory theme summary:
Clearly, the common theme for the readings on Easter Sunday is the resurrection, and not just the Lord’s but ours as well.  In the first reading we have a retelling of the circumstances surrounding the crucifixion to establish the significance of our Lord’s resurrection to His role in relationship with all humanity – to be the judge of both the living and the dead.  In the second reading we have a practical application for understanding our participation in the Lord’s resurrection during our present lives, while the gospel gives us an indication as to how difficult it was for the apostles to grasp the concept.
 

Reflection:
The difficulty in grasping the concept of the resurrection isn’t limited to the apostles.  There are many people today who still do not fully understand what the resurrection means to us in our present lives.  As implied by Paul’s preface, “If you were raised with Christ…” what follows, then, is a description for the reader of how we must live our present lives to show that we have indeed been raised with Christ – that being, abandoning worldly concerns to live only for heavenly ones.  To better understand the meaning for “living” as we are instructed, we need to better understand what it means to “die” with Christ so as to have our lives become hidden in Him.

Simply put, we are to crucify our flesh!  Paul says, “Now those who belong to Christ [Jesus] have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.”  (Gal. 5: 24)  Paul also says, “For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, (mentioned above) we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.  We know that our old self was crucified with him, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.  If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.”  (Rom. 6: 5-8)  When putting these passages together we arrive at a much clearer understanding of what is necessary to actually enter into the resurrection of Christ during our lifetime, which involves overcoming sin’s power to subject us.
From this we learn that the condition of achieving liberty from sin has been attained for us by Christ.  But, more importantly, by Christ offering Himself to us also through his sacrifice of the crucifixion, perpetuated by the institution of the Eucharist, He gives us the means for attaining that life for ourselves.  In conclusion; those who have applied their faith in the resurrected life of Christ offered to us through the perpetuation of the Eucharistic sacrifice, can themselves, by their reception of Christ in the Eucharist, overcome sin’s power to subject them.  This is the mark of those who have indeed entered into the resurrection of Christ.  And by that, they too will have their bodies resurrected.

THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR SIN!!!  There is only failing to remain in him;[1] or worse, the erring faith that denies the possibility of this understanding for becoming raised up!!!
Even if one has not yet entered into this participation in Christ’s resurrection, we must at least believe in it if at some point in our future we hope to attain it.  So, do not be discouraged!  Rather, become hopeful because our future is to shine like the stars in the night sky.[2]

Come, let us shine His light for the whole world to see!!!



[1] 1 Jn. 3: 6  “No one who remains in him sins; no one who sins has seen him or known him.”
[2] Dan. 12: 3  “But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.”

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