[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: John 20:1-9

Easter Sunday

He saw and believed. (John 20:8)

Alleluia! Christ is risen! Father, we exult in your glory! We rejoice, turning our thoughts to the One who lives, who is seated at your right hand above every power and authority and dominion.

He’s alive! Mary’s thoughts spun at the empty tomb: Jesus is missing! What happened? Who took his body? But we fix our eyes on the living Christ. Our thoughts don’t have to spin fruitlessly, hopelessly grasping at “reasonable” explanations. Because Jesus lives, we have hope. We are a new creation. We can look at life through new eyes, think with life-giving thoughts, and speak words of wisdom and understanding. Because he lives, we have peace. The unknown doesn’t have to shake us. God is for us, and nothing can separate us from his love.

He’s alive! Peter’s thoughts, perhaps, churned in regret: “I failed him. I said I would die for him, but I ran away. Now he’s gone.” But there is now no condemnation. Jesus has reconciled us to himself. We are seated with him at God’s right hand. Because he is alive, we are free from the law of sin and death. We are forgiven. Period. Jesus’ blood has cleansed us, and because he lives eternally, this cleansing is powerful. Though our lives are hidden in Christ now, one day we will appear with him in glory.

He’s alive! John saw the same empty tomb—and believed. He might not have understood fully, but still he believed. He recalled Jesus’ promises, and seeing the evidence of the empty tomb, he trusted them more than his own thoughts.

He’s alive! What about you? Jesus’ promise of life that never ends, a life full of grace and glory, freedom and endless joy. Though for a time (like Lent) we endure want and difficulties, we still fix our eyes on what is above, knowing what the empty tomb really points to. Christ is risen, and in him we now share in the promise of eternal life!

“Jesus, you’re alive! In you I live and move and have my being! Alleluia!”

Acts 10:34, 37-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Colossians 3:1-4

Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion

1. 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?

2. 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 in the Psalm is then followed by the word? “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.”

3. How well are you able to apply the words from the Second Reading from the Epistle to the Colossians to your life? What steps can you take turn to the Lord more often during the day and “Seek what is above.” and “Think of what is above, not what is on earth” (Colossians 3:1-2)?

4. What do you think the following words from the Second Reading mean? “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

5. In the Gospel reading, how would you characterize Peter and John’s initial reaction to the empty tomb? The “empty tomb” would eventually have a profound impact on both Peter and John’s lives. How has the truth of the empty tomb affected your life?

6. The mediation ends with these words: “Christ is risen, and in him we now share in the promise of eternal life!” What do these words mean to you? What impact does Christ’s resurrection and the “promise of eternal life” have on how you live as a Catholic Christian?

7. Take some time now to pray for the grace to grow more and more in your relationship with the Risen Lord and in your trust in him. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as a starting point.

[Salvation]

A Christian Pilgrim

EASTER SUNDAY: A DAY OF HOPE 

Gospel Reading: John 20:1-18 

ON this Easter Sunday, people of Christian faith throughout the world gather together because of the resurrection. On this day, in a sense, we follow Mary Magdalene in her search for the body of Jesus. She went to the tomb early in the morning. Hers had been a night of weeping for the loss of Him who had reached out to her in mercy and hope. She would have followed Him to the end of the world, but now she feared that for her the world itself was at the end.

She has responded to His loving forgiveness by a complete change of heart. Because of Him, she had begun a new life. Perhaps on that Sunday morning, however, in the confusion of her sorrow she was wondering whether life itself was still worth living. Though she was looking for a dead body, not a very bright prospect, God was leading her to the light of a great truth. At first Mar4y thought she had found not even a dead body but only an empty tomb. She ran off in tears to tell Peter and John that the Lord had been taken away. Later, still not understanding she returned to the tomb. Then it happened. She saw Jesus standing there. Through her tears she did not recognize Him. He asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who is it you are looking for?” She took Him to be the gardener, and said, “Sir, if You are the one who carried Him off, tell me where You have laid Him and I will take Him away.” Jesus said one word, “Mary,” With that, God’s grace flooded her mind and she knew that Jesus had risen as the Lord of Life.

On this Easter Sunday, we are like Mary Magdalene in that we too are moving toward a tomb, our own! From the moment we began life in the darkness within our mother’s body, we were on our way toward the darkness of the grave within mother earth. Death is inevitable. Since for many that is not a very bright prospect, our society is reluctant to admit the fact of death. We attempt to cover it over with euphemisms and pretense no one ever dies; he “passes away.” A corpse in the mortuary must be made to look, not dead, but only asleep. Still we cannot escape the reality of death. Face death we must, but we should do so in the light of Easter Sunday.

On this Easter Sunday, the empty tomb of Jesus tells us something about our own grave. There was a tomb for Jesus because He had really died. But that tomb was found empty on Easter morning because He had truly risen. What happened on Good Friday and Easter Sunday has great implication for us, because dying Jesus destroyed our death, and rising He restored our life. Death is not the end of the world for us. Jesus has gone before us in death to lead us to eternal life. We are going to die some day, but when Jesus comes again in glory our grave will be found empty, not because our body will have undergone the corruption of death, but because we will have risen with Christ to the glory of everlasting life.

When Christ our life appears, then we shall appear with Him in glory. Easter asks us to make an act of faith in Christ rising from the tomb as the Lord of Life. It urges us to hope that we too shall some day rise with Him. It promises us the complete fulfillment of our lives in eternal union with God.

Short Prayer: Lord Jesus, what words of praise can I offer You? Death has been swallowed up in Your victory. Your divine life is now alive within me. Jesus Christ, I will love and praise You forever and ever. Amen.