Sunday Reflection

"The Lord is truly risen, alleluia! "

Easter Sunday: the greatest feast of our liturgical year! May our readings fill us with hope and deep joy, whatever our circumstances may be.

In our Gospel we see Mary Magdalene, running to tell the disciples about the empty tomb. Peter and the beloved disciple discover this for themselves and slowly come to believe that Jesus is risen.

Psalm 117 (118), which we will meet several times in the Easter season, is a joyful song of praise to the Lord who has triumphed over suffering and death.

The First Reading, from the Acts, shows how Peter has grown in his faith. He is spreading the Good News and gives his personal witness to the Resurrection of Jesus to Gentiles as well as Jews.

Both alternatives offered for the Second Reading challenge us to live out the reality and the consequences of the Resurrection for us—we have been brought back to true life with Christ.

As Pilgrims of Hope, this Jubilee year encourages us to acknowledge that we need to pause, to give time to rest and worship. May the Easter season lead us to put aside some time for quiet each day, or maybe enable someone else to do so. We can place our trust in God who rested on the seventh day.

Here’s a text if you’ve only a minute …

If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Second Reading

Christ, my hope, is risen! Sequence

The other disciple went in, he saw and he believed. Gospel

Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit ,reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven.

May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen

Pope Francis, Jubilee Prayer

To aid our reflection on the Sunday readings each week we are reproducing, with permission, content from St. Bueno's Outreach. If you would like to know more about them or access their guided prayer resources, 'Prego', you can contact them via their website.

QR Code for Readings at Mass

By scanning this with your phone, you will be able to access each of the Mass Readings for today.

The Easter Vigil, held on Holy Saturday night, is a rich tapestry of symbolism representing the resurrection of Christ and the Church's journey from darkness to light. Key symbols include the fire, the Paschal candle, water, and the celebration of the Eucharist, all signifying the triumph of Christ over death and the renewal of life in believers.

Here's a more detailed look at the symbolism:

Fire:

The fire lit outside the church, from which the Paschal candle is lit, symbolizes the conquering of darkness and the arrival of Christ's light. It represents the power of God's glory and the cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit.
Paschal Candle:

The Paschal candle, lit from the fire, is the primary symbol of Christ's resurrection and the light of the world. It's a visual representation of Christ shining as the true light to the nations.
Water:

The water used in baptism symbolizes both death and rebirth. Immersed in the water, candidates symbolically die to sin and rise with Christ to new life. The baptismal waters cleanse and renew, signifying the transformative power of Christ's grace.
Eucharist:

The celebration of the Eucharist, where the bread and wine are broken and shared, represents the body and blood of Christ. It's a central act of communion and the culmination of the initiation process, joining the newly baptized into the body of Christ.
Light:

The gradual illumination of the church with candles from the Paschal candle represents the spreading of Christ's light and the dispelling of darkness. It symbolizes the Church's call to reflect the light of Christ in the world.
Alleluia:

The joyous chant "Alleluia," which begins the Easter Vigil, proclaims the good news of the resurrection and the defeat of death.
Renewal of Baptismal Vows:

The renewal of baptismal vows, often following the readings, is a public affirmation of believers' commitment to live in accordance with their baptismal promises and to follow Christ's teachings.

Gospel John 20: 1–9 (The empty tomb) No evangelist describes the actual resurrection, yet it is at the core of our Christian faith. John gives the fullest description of events around it; he has a keen eye for detail. Unsurprisingly, the accounts of all four evangelists differ slightly from one another, probably as a result of oral transmission of events, and the specific preoccupations or focus of each writer.

It was still dark. The time of day is significant. Throughout John’s Gospel we find this contrast between light and darkness. The gloom echoes the way Mary feels at the death of her friend Jesus. It could also reflect her lack of understanding of the events which have taken place.

‘They have taken the Lord’ Mary assumes that the body has been stolen. Grave-robbing was a common crime at the time. Rome had issued an imperial edict against it.

‘We do not know …’ Although only Mary of Magdala is mentioned by name here, she was apparently not alone at the tomb. Indeed the other evangelists mention several women by name (Mary, the mother of James, Salome, Joanna). Mary Magdalen herself is a key witness to the death and resurrection of the Lord. John, always respectful of women – see the account of the Samaritan woman at the well, or Martha, Lazarus’s sister – gives her a prominent part, despite the contemporary culture where women had a very low social status and importance.

Peter and the other disciple Tradition has generally seen John the Evangelist, son of Zebedee, in ‘the other disciple’, or the ‘beloved disciple’ in some translations. However, more recent scholarship suggests that ’the one Jesus loved’ was more than a historical person in the life of Jesus, and also ‘a symbol of the role that every faithful disciple would play in the life of the Church’ (Peter Edmonds S.J.). There are many instances in John’s Gospel where ‘the other disciple’ is given more prominence than Peter (13: 23, 18: 15, 19: 26, 21:7 ), though here the evangelist is more balanced. Yes, the unnamed disciple arrives first at the tomb, but it is Peter, the impulsive one, who shows initiative and leadership by going into it. Nevertheless, it is ’the one Jesus loved’ who first believes in the resurrection here.

Peter stooping to look in Despite the way in which artists over the centuries have depicted the empty tomb, contemporary archaeological research suggests that a 3-foot tall entrance led into cave-like tombs.

The linen cloths John gives a very specific account of the position and state of the linen cloths. The carefully folded linens attest to the fact that the body has not been stolen or spirited away. John’s audience will remember Lazarus emerging from his tomb, ‘his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face’.

As yet they did not understand the Scripture. The disciples needed to experience the Resurrection to understand the Old Testament prophecies—though in fact there are few references to resurrection in Scripture (see Hosea 6: 3, Jonah 2: 1, Isaiah 53: 10–13, Psalm 16 (17): 8–11). The disciples will only fully understand after Pentecost.