“They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of The Lord

Collect 

O God, who on this day, through your Only Begotten Son, have conquered death and unlocked for us the path to eternity, grant, we pray, that we who keep the solemnity of the Lord’s Resurrection may, through the renewal brought by your Spirit, rise up in the light of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

First Reading
Acts 10:34a, 37-43

We ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles

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.”

The word of the Lord.

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:
℟. 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.”

℟. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
  or:
℟. 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.”

℟. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

The stone which the builders rejected
   has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
   it is wonderful in our eyes.

℟. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Second Reading
Col 3:1-4 or I Cor 5:6b-8

Seek what is above, where Christ is.

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians

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.

The word of the Lord.

Or:

Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough.

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians

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.

The word of the Lord.

Acclamation before the Gospel
Cf. 1 Cor 5:7b-8a

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed;
let us then feast with joy in the Lord.

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Jn 20:1-9

He had to rise from the dead.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

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
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Reflection 

For as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. (v.9) 

Jesus had repeatedly foretold that He was to suffer at the hands of sinners, and be betrayed by His own people, executed like a criminal and rise from the dead. The disciples’ response demonstrates how none of them had believed Him. 

Mary Magdalene’s first assumption was that someone had stolen Jesus’ body. Mary informed Simon and the beloved disciple of this. Was she sorrowful? Was she confused? Of course she was. But she loved Him. She went to the tomb in the darkness, and, after the disciples had left, she remained at the tomb crying, convinced that He had been stolen. 

What does Easter mean to you? 

What is the empty tomb for you today? Do you still feel confused, as if Jesus has hidden Himself from you, as if the mentality of our secularised world has ‘stolen Him’? 

For the beloved disciple, the empty tomb was a moment of faith. 

The times you feel the Messiah’s absence in your life are an invitation to believe! The disappointments you experience in your life are an appointment with God. He is there with you. You may not notice or recognise Him immediately. But, when you live and walk in faith in Him, the Holy Spirit opens your eyes to a spiritual reality. He will show you what is unseen, while searching within you for love and fidelity towards Jesus. 

The details the author provides on what was found in the empty tomb, the linen wrappings and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head show … what do they show? When Lazarus was raised from the dead, he came out bound with strips of cloth. But this was not the case for Jesus. When He rose from the dead, He left all the wrappings in the tomb. He has a glorified body and does not need the wrappings used to bind a dead body. When he began to appear to His disciples, His clothes were not of this world. When He entered the locked room, His clothes were ‘new’ and reflected His glorious Body. 

Ask yourself: How much do you love Jesus? How do you love Jesus? What do you do when you feel you are losing faith? Where are you searching for the living Jesus? 

Prayer 

When standing before our tombs, Lord, give us the same faith beloved disciple had to believe even when we don’t see You. In the face of what we experience as death in our lives, help us to hear Your knock on the door of our heart, to allow You access to give us your life. Amen. 

 

Read Past Sunday Readings