Sunday 12 April 2020

by | Apr 11, 2020 | Evangelium

Sunday 12 April 2020

 

 

EASTER SUNDAY

St Zeno of Verona (d. 371)

White

 

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 138: 18, 5-6

I have risen, and I am with you still, alleluia. You have laid your hand upon me, alleluia. Too wonderful for me, this knowledge, alleluia, alleluia.

 

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.

 

First reading: Acts 10:34, 37-43

Peter addressed Cornelius and his household: ‘You must have heard about the recent happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil. Now I, and those with me, can witness to everything he did throughout the countryside of Judaea and in Jerusalem itself: and also to the fact that they killed him by hanging him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him to life and allowed him to be seen, not by the whole people but only by certain witnesses God had chosen beforehand. Now we are those witnesses – we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead – and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people and to tell them that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead. It is to him that all the prophets bear this witness: that all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.’

Psalm 117(118):1-2,16-17,22-23

R/   This day was made by the Lord: we rejoice and are glad.

 

1)    Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love has no end. Let the sons of Israel say: ‘His love has no end.’

2)    The Lord’s right hand has triumphed; his right hand raised me up. I shall not die, I shall live and recount his deeds.

3)    The stone which the builders rejected has become the corner stone. This is the work of the Lord, a marvel in our eyes.

 

Second reading: Colossians 3:1-4

Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.

 

Gospel Acclamation 1Cor5:7-8

Alleluia, alleluia! Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed: let us celebrate the feast then, in the Lord. Alleluia!

 

Gospel John 20:1-9

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’ So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

 

Prayer over the Offerings

Exultant with paschal gladness, O Lord, we offer the sacrifice by which your Church is wondrously reborn and nourished. Through Christ our Lord.

 

Communion Antiphon: 1 Cor 5: 7-8

Christ our Passover has been sacrificed, alleluia; therefore let us keep the feast with the unleavened bread of purity and truth, alleluia, alleluia.

 

Prayer after Communion

Look upon your Church, O God, with unfailing love and favour, so that, renewed by the paschal mysteries, she may come to the glory of the resurrection. Through Christ our Lord.

 

 

Meditation

The Lord has Truly Risen, Alleluia, alleluia…

Without Easter, Christianity would have begun with the scandal of the Incarnation (God becoming Man) and would have ended with the scandal of the Crucifixion. But the Resurrection puts everything into context. He suffered, died and rose from the dead to show to the world that He is Lord both of the living and the dead. Everything is under his control and there is no other name in the heavens above or on earth below that is above the name of Jesus. The Resurrection is our guarantee that in death, human life is truly changed, not ended. The Resurrection confirms what the Jews were struggling to reject; namely that Jesus was truly the Christ, the Immanuel, God-made-Man. In Him we encounter the supreme expression of the Godhead; and in Him, God and Man meet. Such a Mystery simply forces us to go on our knees.

The Apostles had not fully understood the Divinity of Christ; the Resurrection now confirms and strengthens their faith. Mary of Magdala is the first to receive the message; so all sinners are forgiven if they repent. The Jews are bamboozled and confused; lies will never triumph. Joy comes back to a world which has lost a sense of direction. Without God, human life has no meaning; we came from Him and in Him we live and move and have our being! The encroaching secularism that is taking over the world today is meaningless and can only misdirect those who do not see the handwriting on the wall. The Resurrection of Christ has shown that what matters is to be with God  who dispels the darkness of sin and brings the joy for which we were created.