Easter Sunday(Cycle B, Year I)
Community Word: Followers of the Resurrected Christ seek what is above.
Theme: We seek what is above when we bear witness to the resurrection of Christ.
Promise: “To Him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”(Acts 10:43)
Reflection:
Even after Jesus’ death, his disciples did not understand what it was to ‘rise from the dead’.In today’s word, we are told that John “saw and believed” (Jn 20:8). However, the empty tomb, important though it was, is not enough. It is not absence that we seek, but presence. And on seeing the empty tomb, John saw the light. He came to understand that Jesus could not remain buried in the “darkness” of the tomb.
The Easter message tells us of this presence. Experiencing the presence of Jesus permanently changed the disciples’ lives. Overwhelmed with love, they ceased to be fearful. They found the courage to proclaim the Easter message – the gospel of love. They passed from darkness into light, and the passage is an appropriate symbol of the Lord’s resurrection, which began in sorrow but ended in victory, reviving our hope. The light that appears in the horizon is the breaking of dawn of the “first morning” – the Easter morning.
In His resurrection, Jesus is victorious over death. He is called the first-born of the dead, because He is the precursor of all who are to follow. His resurrection proves what He declared Himself to be: the Son of the Father, God-Made-Man, our Brother and our Savior. This is what we celebrate on Easter Sunday. For us, the challenge of Easter is to follow Jesus in love. This is what His post-resurrection appearances did to His disciples. This is what Jesus is asking of us now. When we respond, we too begin to love Jesus, and in Him and through Him, our neighbor. Then, and only then, will His resurrection finally have meaning in our lives. As we mark the Feast on the Resurrection of the Lord, let us put to mind the community word for this week:Followers of the Resurrected Christ seek what is above.
Resurrection is a call to formation. The Risen Christ continues to guide His disciples today, including ourselves, by leading us to a fuller understanding of the faith. Jesus forms His disciples through His word, and He continues to open our understanding, shed light on our reason, and strengthen our convictions, that we may grow strong in faith. It is our responsibility to allow ourselves to be formed in the word of God through the teachings we receive from the Community.On this greatest of all Christian feasts, let us remember that love must occupy and take first place in our lives: love of God and love of neighbor.
Our lives must demonstrate the words of the Apostle Paul in today’s second reading, “We have been raised up in company with Christ” (Col 3:1). In other words, we have died to our selfishness. To borrow the words of a song, “He raised us up to stand on mountains. He raised us up to walk on stormy seas. He raised us up to more than we can be.” In other words, He raised us up to rise above our human weaknesses and limitations. He does not limit us to our human powerlessness, but raised us up to to conquer great heights (stand on mountains, to attain and overcome even the humanly impossible, walk on stormy seas). He raised us up to rise above our human pettiness, our fits of anger, shame, humiliations, defiance, rebellion and disobedience. Indeed, the Lord’s resurrection raises us up to more than we can hope for or imagine, as we hold on to this week’s theme: “We seek what is above when we bear witness to the resurrection of Christ”. As “risen people”, let us forget ourselves and live for others. This is the best preparation for eternal happiness. By loving others, we will come ever closer to God and acquire the godly wisdom.
Each of us comes to faith in different ways. some come to faith through the words of the Bible. Others by seeing the examples of virtuous Christians. Still others may find themselves drawn through a religious experience – a personal encounter – with the heart of a good and loving God. The way we are called is not important, what is important is our response to the call. Are we doing our best to grow closer to God? Do we show this in the way we pray, the way we live, the way we deal with our fellowmen? Do we share our time, talents and treasures with others? Are we trying to become better persons, more loving to those around us?
Let us ask the Lord to touch our hearts that we may experience having our minds opened to the truth of faith. Let us pray for the desire to seek to grow in our faith. Jesus teaches us that we must be prepared to die unto ourselves, to humble ourselves sufficiently to stop clinging to our security and comfort zones and experience what it is to be abandoned, until all we see and aspire for things not of this earth, but above. Standing firm on this, we can claim the promise for this week: “to Him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins thru His name”. (Acts 10:43)
Prayer:
Precious Jesus, you have once more fulfilled what you taught us in Scripture, that you will always raise us up, your chosen ones, when the world imprisons us in a tomb of earthly and wicked desires. We believe that your grace cannot be overpowered by evil, and that your presence within us will always raise again us from the tomb of our sinfulness. Lord we pray that your life within us may enable us to live in a way that is pleasing to you, that our hopes, our aspirations and our prayers are in keeping with your holy will. And that like John, the Beloved Apostle, you may grant us the grace of love, that we too may ‘see and believe’. In your name, we pray. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
1. In what ways have I been raised to life by Christ?
2. What do I resolve to do that others may see the Risen Christ in me?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
April 5, 2015 (Sun) Acts 10:34,37-43/Ps 118:1-2,16-17,22-23/Col 3:1-4/Jn 20:1-9
April 6, 2015 (Mon) Acts 2:14,22-33/Ps 16:1-2,5,7-8,9-10,11/Mt 28:8-15
April 7, 2015 (Tue) Acts 2:36-41/Ps 33:4-5,18-19,20,22/Jn 20:11-18
April 8, 2015 (Wed) Acts 3:1-10/Ps 105:1-2,3-4,6-7,8-9/Lk 24:13-35
April 9, 2015 (Thur) Acts 3:11-26/Ps 8:2,5,6-7,8-9/Lk 24:35-48
April 10, 2015 (Fri) Acts 4:1-12/Ps 118:1-2,4,22-24,25-27/Jn 21:1-14
April 11, 2015 (Sat) Acts 4:13-21/Ps 118:1,14-15,16-18,19-21/Mk 16:9-15
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
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