F
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
April 4, Easter Sunday: Study and Meditation On The Scripture Readings For Mass
- Status
- Not open for further replies.
F
Fidelis
Guest
A meditation on that last Reading:
Stay With Us, Lord! — A Biblical Reflection for Easter Sunday, Year C
Pounding hearts, wounded hearts and burning hearts… the image of the human heart permeates the beautiful Easter Gospel of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus [Luke 24:13-35]. It is a very human story, full of pathos; stylized in pattern, and suggesting a Eucharistic celebration [vv. 30-32]. The disciples come with their questions and doubts [vv.13-24]; the Scriptures are recited [v.27]; words of clarification and instruction are exchanged on the road [vv.25-27]; and finally, the moment of recognition comes in the context of a meal [v.31].
These facts are clear from the account: on Easter night, Cleopas and his companion are going away from the locality where the decisive events have happened toward a little village of no significance. They did not believe the message of the resurrection, due to the scandal of the cross. Puzzled and discouraged, they are unable to see any liberation in the death, the empty tomb, or the message about the appearances of Jesus to the others. In their eyes, either the mission of Jesus had entirely failed, or else they, themselves had been badly deceived in their expectations about Jesus.
The Conversation on the Road
When we meet the disciples on the road to Emmaus, it is evening, and the glow of that first Easter day has begun to fade. Resurrection for them is nothing more than a rumor or a tale. Buried beneath their verbal exchange lies a deep yearning and a holy hunger. Intimately intertwined with their skepticism is their hope, and their need for God to be alive, vibrant and present. But the baggage of their doubt, sadness and despair impedes the fervor of their faith. They fail to recognize Jesus.
Without being aware of what they are really saying along the road, the two disciples profess many of the central elements of the creed of the Christian faith, yet they remain blind to the necessity of the Messianic suffering predicted in the Scriptures. They are so caught up with their own sadness that they fail to recognize Jesus. The stranger on the road to Emmaus takes the skepticism and curiosity of the disciples and weaves them into the fabric of the Scripture. Jesus challenges them to reinterpret the events of the past days in light of the Scriptures. However, Cleopas and his companion are “foolish and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have said!” [v.25]
We were hoping…
The Emmaus disciples saw their hopes and dreams dashed and crushed. Theirs is a piercing cry: “We were hoping…” [24:21] They were expecting this Jesus to be a mighty liberator or warrior. They never imagined the outcome of that terrible Friday on a hill outside the walls of Jerusalem.
We know what happens when such feelings overtake us: we become despondent, indifferent, cynical and sad. How many times have we been like the two on the road, uttering those same words: “We were hoping…” We were hoping that the marriage would have remained intact and the family united. We were hoping that wars, violence and terrorism would have ceased. We were hoping that the economic crisis would not have affected our family, resulting in job loss, uncertainty and imposed poverty. We were hoping that our children would have remained in the Church. We were hoping that the ravages of sickness and ageing would have spared a loved one or even ourselves much physical and mental anguish. Like the two on the road to Emmaus, do we not feel that we are victims of time, fate, circumstance and external factors?
We cannot live without hope but we must be prudent and wise in our hoping. Given the cultural and social context in which we live, there is a risk of reducing Christian hope to an ideology, to group slogans, to mere appearances and feelings. Nothing could be more opposite to Jesus’ message! He does not want His disciples to simply recite a role of hope. He wants them “to be hope”.
To believe in the resurrection does not mean we embrace fleeting ideologies, secular strategies, cheap slogans and catchy themes. It means that we fall in love again with God’s Envoy, the Risen Lord, and remain in an intimate relationship with him. Apart from Him we can do nothing. We cannot afford to simply be people “who were hoping.” Rather we must become hope, and we can be so only if we remain united to Him.
Stay With Us…
“Stay with us, Lord, for it is nearly evening…” [24:29]. This was the fervent plea that the two disciples addressed to the stranger who had walked with them along the way. “Stay with us” is also the prayer of the early Church to the Risen Lord that He not abandon them in their searching for His new presence. The nightfall at Emmaus is not only the sunset of that first Easter, but it marks the night of faith and doubt, uncertainty and obscurity, confusion and chaos. As Christians, we know that this night is always followed by the dawn of faith and hope. This is illustrated beautifully by the words of St. Gregory the Great:
Since daybreak or dawn is changed gradually from darkness into light, the church… is fittingly called daybreak or dawn. The dawn hints that the night is over. It does not yet proclaim the full light of day. While dawn dispels darkness and welcomes the light, it holds both of them, the one mixed with the other… Are not all of us who follow the truth in this life daybreak and dawn?
Continued on next post…Amidst the shadows of the passing day and the darkness that clouded the disciples’ spirit, the stranger brought a ray of light that rekindled their hope. “Stay with us”, they pleaded. In the intimacy of the breaking of the bread, the disciples’ eyes were opened and they recognized the Risen One in their midst. How often do we turn to the Lord and plead, like the two on the road: “Stay with us!”
F
Fidelis
Guest
Hearts Gradually Burning Within Us
At table in Emmaus, the disciples’ hearts began to gradually burn within them [24:32] as they came to understand with their minds the truth about the suffering Messiah. The “Good News” descended from their head to their heart, and they experienced that strange and wonderful feeling of their hearts gradually on fire. The analogy of the “burning hearts” is the only way for them to adequately describe their recognition of the Lord.
I remember a beautiful phrase of the great French Catholic author of the last century, François Mauriac: “If you are friends with Christ many others will warm themselves at your fire… On the day when you no longer burn with love, many will die of the cold.”
The Lord has appeared to Simon
Just as the two disciples were moving away from the city of Jerusalem in v. 13, the end of the story finds them moving back to Jerusalem, to be reunited with the other disciples and apostles who waited for Jesus in the Holy City [v. 33]. The story’s conclusion is an abrupt announcement by the assembly to the ones returning back to the community rather than, as expected, the two disciples’ relating of what had just occurred [vv.33-34].
How can we describe the Lord’s appearance to Peter and the group of apostles and disciples in Jerusalem? Could it be that Luke has the “Eleven and their company” proclaim the appearance to Peter and announce it first before the travelers’ report, in order to be true to the Lukan understadning of the apostolic circle around Peter as primary “witnesses of his resurrection” [Acts 1:22]? The appearance to Peter and the testimony of the apostles thus obtain logical priority in the building of the church. From the very beginning, there was great significance attached to “being with Peter and the Apostolic circle.” This does not diminish the Emmaus travelers’ encounter. On the contrary, the happening “on the road” is authenticated and confirmed by being made part of the greater united Easter witness of the assembly of apostles and disciples of Jesus.
Nostalgia
The question lingers: why does Luke alone spend so much time relating the Emmaus event? The story was most likely told in response to Jesus’ continuing historical absence and its perception as a loss to Jesus’ followers. The main theme of the story is truly recognition of the Lord, not just a recognition of his bodily presence, but of his powerful presence in the Scriptures and in the action of the breaking of the bread. The issue is how Luke uses the story to teach his readers in 80 A.D. They might have been saying to themselves that 50-60 years ago, people were so fortunate to have seen the Risen Lord with their very eyes.
Nostalgia would cause people to say that having been there, back then, might make a difference in the way that they think and believe today! But Luke says that even those who were there weren’t able to recognize Jesus until the Scriptures were “opened” and the “eucharistic” meal was shared. The bottom line is this: a past generation is not more fortunate or blessed to have encountered the risen Jesus than is a generation that hasn’t seen him! Faith in Jesus transcends all history, space and time. Christians of Luke’s time and Christians of our time have the same essential elements necessary for recognizing the Lord: Sacred Scripture and the Eucharist.
For Cleopas and his companion on that first Easter, their journey was a gradual, painstaking process requiring a careful remembering and rearticulation of the events of salvation history found in the Scriptures, along with an experience of the Risen Lord. It is no less the same for us, who continue to interpret the Scriptures in this day and age, and move from faith-filled insights to a proclamation and lived experience of the One who is truly risen from the dead. Emmaus places some important questions before us, as individuals and as a faith community.
Some Questions for Reflection
*How is Jesus alive and present among us? Is our own friendship with Christ contagious? Do we burn with love for him? Do people avoid us because of our coldness? Are our own hearts gradually on fire within us when the Scriptures are opened to us? When have we taken the road back to Emmaus, preferring to remain in the familiar, among what is known and calculable, rather than move forward to the unknown challenges of new life?
When have we experienced that strange and wonderful feeling of “the burning heart” as we listened to the Word of God at the Eucharist or in private prayer? What do Peter and the Apostolic Tradition mean for us? When have we given in to nostalgia, in our faith life, religious life and experience of Church?*
Let me conclude with this prayer for the Easter season:
Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening and the day is far spent. Just as the two disciples prayed on that evening in Emmaus, help us to be focused and centered on you, our Lord, our hope and our life.
When doubt and despair fill our lives, stay with us, Lord.
When sadness and emptiness tempt us to believe that you are absent, fill us with your consoling presence. When selfishness prevents us from reaching out to others, teach us your art of selflessness.
Stay with us, Lord,
and help us to remember that the royal road of the Cross
is the only way for us and for the Church.
Stay with us, Lord, along the journey,
and help us to discover you each day
in the breaking and sharing of the Word and the Bread.
Father Thomas Rosica, CSBStay with us, Lord, as we journey to the New Jerusalem
where you are light, peace, and endless home. AMEN.
CEO Salt + Light Catholic Television Network
F
Fidelis
Guest
An Easter reflection by Fr. Jerome Magat, via Catholic Exchange:
An Unforgettable Morning
Every time we celebrate morning Mass on Easter Sunday, we hear the same eyewitness account taken from the Gospel of St. John. One of the most unique features of this account is the painstaking detail John devotes to the status of the burial cloths and the cloth that covered our Lord’s head in the tomb. The Greek version of this account reveals a much more vivid description of the status of the burial cloths in the tomb than our English translation. In Greek, the words used to describe the condition of the burial cloths suggest that the linens were deflated or flattened, not pushed aside as we do with a blanket or comforter when we arise each morning. Instead, the Greek translation suggests that our Lord passed right through the linens.
We also read that the cloth (in Latin, a “sudarium”) that covered our Lord’s head was rolled up in a separate place. A sudarium was used to cover the head of the deceased and was tied with a knot at the top. When our Lord’s body arrived at the tomb for burial having been transported from Calvary, the sudarium was removed and the burial shroud placed over the head. The knot would have given the sudarium a twisted or rolled-up appearance.
The status of both the burial cloths and the sudarium suggests that the Resurrection transcends all the laws of nature. This should remind us that the Resurrection is not the same phenomenon as what occurred to Lazarus, who was raised from the dead. Unlike the resurrected Christ, who would never die again, Lazarus would surely experience death a second time. Unlike the resurrected Christ who passes through the linen burial cloths, Lazarus would have to be unbound of his bandages.
Thus, the Resurrection reveals an entirely new dimension of existence. A resurrected body is a glorified body, capable of passing through walls and doors, not subject to disease or death, and a body that enjoys a certain luminous glow and total perfection. In this single event of the Resurrection, Christ’s human body and human soul were reunited. And so we believe that at the final judgment cemeteries will be very busy places because every human body will be reconstituted in a glorified state and rejoined to the soul that once animated it to either enjoy the eternal bliss of heaven or the eternal fires of hell.
While we have evidence of an empty tomb and eyewitnesses, the Resurrection is still a matter of faith for it reveals a level of existence well beyond ordinary human comprehension. The gift of faith is needed in order to begin to scratch the surface of what this mystery really means. Some readers of this column may have attended or at least seen the television broadcast of Easter Sunday Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The grand basilica serves as testimony to Peter’s martyrdom in Rome so many years ago. This martyrdom is a kind of “proof” that the Resurrection really happened. After all, it was Peter who accompanied John to the tomb on the eyewitness account of Mary Magdalene. Peter himself saw and conversed with our resurrected Lord. Peter’s faith led him to give his life as a martyr because he knew he was assured of the resurrection so long as he remained faithful to the end. May the example of the martyrs and the testimony of the Apostles inspire within us greater faith, hope and love in the Resurrected One, who promises us a new, transcendent and glorified existence, as a reward for our fidelity to Him.
F
Fidelis
Guest
Here’s something different: “St. Thomas Aquinas’ Five Reasons Why Jesus Rose From the Grave,” from The Sacred Page:
It behooved Christ to rise again, for five reasons. First of all; for the commendation of Divine Justice, to which it belongs to exalt them who humble themselves for God’s sake, according to Lk. 1:52: “He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.” Consequently, because Christ humbled Himself even to the death of the Cross, from love and obedience to God, it behooved Him to be uplifted by God to a glorious resurrection; hence it is said in His Person (Psalm 138:2): “Thou hast known,” i.e. approved, “my sitting down,” i.e. My humiliation and Passion, “and my rising up,” i.e. My glorification in the resurrection; as the gloss expounds.
Secondly, for our instruction in the faith, since our belief in Christ’s Godhead is confirmed by His rising again, because, according to 2 Cor. 13:4, “although He was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God.” And therefore it is written (1 Corinthians 15:14): “If Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and our [Vulg.: ‘your’] faith is also vain”: and (Psalm 29:10): “What profit is there in my blood?” that is, in the shedding of My blood, “while I go down,” as by various degrees of evils, “into corruption?” As though He were to answer: “None. ‘For if I do not at once rise again but My body be corrupted, I shall preach to no one, I shall gain no one,’” as the gloss expounds.
Thirdly, for the raising of our hope, since through seeing Christ, who is our head, rise again, we hope that we likewise shall rise again. Hence it is written (1 Corinthians 15:12): “Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how do some among you say, that there is no resurrection of the dead?” And (Job 19:25,27): “I know,” that is with certainty of faith, “that my Redeemer,” i.e. Christ, “liveth,” having risen from the dead; “and” therefore “in the last day I shall rise out of the earth . . . this my hope is laid up in my bosom.”
Fourthly, to set in order the lives of the faithful: according to Rm. 6:4: “As Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life”: and further on; “Christ rising from the dead dieth now no more; so do you also reckon that you are dead to sin, but alive to God.”
Fifthly, in order to complete the work of our salvation: because, just as for this reason did He endure evil things in dying that He might deliver us from evil, so was He glorified in rising again in order to advance us towards good things; according to Rm. 4:25: “He was delivered up for our sins, and rose again for our justification.”
, III, Q. 53, Art. 1][From *Summa Theologica
F
Fidelis
Guest
From The Word Among Us Magazine:
**Meditation: John 20:1-9
The Resurrection of the Lord **
On this feast of the resurrection, let’s review a bit of history, so that we can get a glimpse of everything Jesus won for us on Easter Sunday. Throughout the Old Testament, we can see clues that point us to the resurrection of Jesus. For instance, Genesis speaks of a coming one who will crush the serpent, even as the serpent bruises him (Genesis 3:15). We read also about waters of judgment that cleanse the earth of sin (6:7). In the Book of Isaiah, we read about a suffering servant who will be despised and rejected, yet whose suffering takes away our sins (Isaiah 53:12).
Over and over again, these verses foreshadow a new life for us—a life free from the serpent’s wiles, a life that rises above corruption and violence, a life without guilt and shame. And by faith, we know that this life is now ours for the taking because of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead!
For the past forty days, we have pondered the cross and everything that Jesus accomplished by his death. Now come the days of celebration and fulfillment. Now comes the great fifty-day Easter season, a time to ponder and participate in the new life that Jesus has freely given to us.
At Pentecost, Peter announced that Jesus, exalted to God’s right hand, has received the Holy Spirit, and that he has now poured this Spirit out on the apostles. What’s more, Peter said, this gift of the Spirit is for everyone who believes and is baptized (Acts 2:33,38).
Brothers and sisters, Jesus is still alive in heaven. He is still pouring out his Spirit on us today. He is still giving us the power to live a wonderful life that is holy and pleasing to him. So on this great day, as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, let’s praise him also for raising us with him so that we can walk with him each and every day!
“Thank you, Lord, for raising us up to heaven with you. How can we possibly fathom such love? May we all receive your grace to live in the power of the resurrection.”
**Questions for Individual Reflection or Group Discussion
Acts 10:34,37-43, Colossians 3:1-4, Psalm 118:1-2,16-17,22-23, John 20:1-9**
- In the first reading, Peter presents a clear presentation of the basic Gospel message to the gentile, Cornelius, and his relatives and friends. The result is that they are all converted and filled with the Holy Spirit – a powerful demonstration of the power of the Gospel when it is spoken clearly. What part of Peter’s talk stood out most to you? If the opportunity arose for you to present the basic Gospel message to someone or to a group, what would you say? If this would be a struggle for you, what steps can you take to prepare yourself for these opportunities?
- The Responsorial Psalm 118 is a beautiful psalm that points prophetically to the mission and work of Jesus? Verses 22-23 of this psalm are “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the Lord, has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.” Why do you think this verse is then followed by the words, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad”?
- How would you apply the second reading from the Epistle to the Colossians to how we should live out each day? What steps can you take to “Think of what is above, not what is on earth” (Colossians 3:2)? What do you think the following words mean? “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (3:3).
- In the Gospel reading, how would you characterize Peter and John’s reaction to the empty tomb? The empty tomb had a profound impact on both of their lives. How has the truth of the empty tomb affected your life?
- In the mediation, we hear these words: “Brothers, Jesus is still alive in heaven. He is still pouring out his Spirit on us today. He is still giving us the power to live a wonderful life that is holy and pleasing to him.” Do you believe these words? Why or why not? In what way did your Lenten practices make a difference in your living this new life in Christ?
- If you are in a small group, pray for one another to receive more deeply the peace, love, joy, and freedom that Jesus won for you through the power of his death and resurrection. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as a starting point.
F
Fidelis
Guest
From Road to Emmaus by Brian Pizzalato
Easter Sunday: The Resurrection of the Lord
First Reading – Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Second Reading – Col 3:1-4
Gospel Reading – Jn 20:1-9
“If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain…your faith is futile and you are still in your sins…If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Cor 15:14,17, 19).
In the reading from John’s Gospel for this Easter Sunday we are told that Mary Magdalene “came to the tomb early, while it was still dark…” (Jn. 20:1). We know from Luke’s Gospel that other women were with her: “Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women…” (24:10).
These women loved the Lord so much that they come to the tomb while it was still dark, probably in what the Romans considered the fourth watch of the night, which was anywhere between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. When they arrived, Jesus was already risen and the tomb was empty. We almost get the impression that Jesus could not even wait for sunrise to come forth from the tomb. It is easy to imagine Mary Magdalene recalling Jesus’ words, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (Jn 8:12). Though the sun was not yet up, the Son did indeed rise as he said he would.
The enormous stone, large enough that the women couldn’t move it, was already rolled away when they arrived. So, Mary goes to Peter and the beloved disciple, John. Out of concern that someone has, in fact, stolen the body of Jesus, she says, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him” (Jn 20:2).
Peter and John run to the tomb. John, who is younger, arrives first but does not go in. This is more than a courteous action on John’s part. He knows that Jesus himself gave Peter a special authority and place in the Kingdom of God (cf. Mt 16:16-19).
“Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself” (Jn 20:6-7)
As the Navarre Bible notes, “Some of the words contained in the account need further explanation, so terse is the translation…‘lying there’ seems to indicate that the clothes were flattened, deflated, as if they were emptied when the body of Jesus rose and disappeared – as if it had come out of the clothes and bandages without their being unrolled, passing right through them (just as later he entered the Cenacle [upper room] when the doors were shut)” (240). Jesus seems to have passed through the linen as light passes through glass.
The Navarre Bible continues, “From these details concerning the empty tomb one deduces that Jesus’ body must have risen in a heavenly manner, that is, in a way which transcended the laws of nature. It was not only a matter of the body being reanimated as happened, for example, in the case of Lazarus, who had to be unbound before he could walk (cf. Jn 11:44)” (240).
Additionally, the details given in the Gospel narrative prove the notion that Jesus’ body was stolen to be untrue. Why? Grave robbers did not steal bodies. They stole things in the tomb that were worth money, such as the linen cloths which were usually costly. Jesus’ linen burial shroud was probably expensive because he was buried by Joseph of Arimathea, who was a rich man (cf. Mt 27:57a). Also, even if thieves were to steal a body from a tomb, it is unlikely that they would have left the cloths behind. It is easier to carry and hide a body wrapped in a giant sheet than one unclothed. Matthew’s Gospel also states that guards were posted at the tomb, and we know that they did not fall asleep on the job (cf. 27:62-67; 28:11-15).
Of course, the resurrection cannot be exclusively proved by the existence of an empty tomb. However, we must note that the empty tomb and the garments did suffice for the beloved disciple who “saw and believed” (Jn 20:8).
For those who did not see and believe as John did, the various resurrection narratives provide additional proof of Jesus’s resurrection by going on to recount Jesus’ different appearances. In this Sunday’s reading from Acts, Peter says, “God raised him on the third day and made him manifest; not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses…” (10:40-41).
For those of us who have been baptized, let us remember St. Paul’s words in the second reading for this Sunday: “If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col 3:1-4).
F
Fidelis
Guest
Sunday Gospel Reflections from the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community
Easter Sunday
Reading I: Acts 10:37-43 II: 1Cor 5:6-8
Interesting Details
This passage opens the last part of John’s Gospel (ch.20): the resurrection and appearance of Jesus. This chapter contains the resurrection with the empty tomb story (vv.1-10) and Jesus’ appearances to Mary Magdalene (vv.11-18), to the disciples without Thomas (vv.19-23), and to the disciples with Thomas (vv.24-29).
In the preceding passage, Jesus’ body was laid in a new tomb in the garden (19:41). This tomb was probably a horizontal cave with a small ground-level entrance, usually less than a yard high. This explains why the disciple must bend down to look inside (v.5).
Jesus’ body was not put into a coffin but probably laid in an “arcosolia”, a semi-circle niche, a sort of side-way flat bed formed by cutting two or three feet deep into the side of the cave.
His body was wrapped in cloth and aromatic oils, and the face was covered with a small piece of cloth. The presence of the cloths in vv.6-7 shows that the body was probably not stolen because thieves would not unwrap and fold the cloths so neatly.
There are some difficulties within this story, for example, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb alone but in v.2 the pronoun “we” is used. Furthermore, some details are different from the synoptic resurrection accounts.
“He saw and believed” (v. 8) seems to contradict with “they still did not understand the scripture” (v.9). The most natural explanation is that the beloved disciple believed that Jesus had risen from the dead based on his own observation of the empty tomb rather than on the scripture (See Newman p.606).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One Main Point
The resurrection is Jesus’ ultimate glory. It is the sign of the victory over death, the hope for us, and the basis for our Christian faith.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflections
Imagine that you are standing in front of the empty tomb and looking in, what does the tomb look like? Is it foul? What do you see?
Put yourself in Peter’s place: guilt-ridden by his betrayal of Jesus, dispirited by Jesus’ death, and now the body was gone! Have you ever experienced moments when God is absent from your life?
The beloved disciples saw the folded linen cloths and believed. Can you recall one specific sign that led you to believe in the Risen Lord?
- Status
- Not open for further replies.