SUNday 09 APRIL

EASTER SUNDAY

Psalter week I

SAINT Waldetrudis

Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Ps 138: 18

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 117:1-2, 16-17, 22-23

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

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.’

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

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.

Sequence

Christians, to the Paschal Victim offer sacrifice and praise. The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb; and Christ, the undefiled, hath sinners to his Father reconciled. Death with life contended: combat strangely ended! Life’s own Champion, slain, yet lives to reign. Tell us, Mary:  say what thou didst see upon the way. The tomb the Living did enclose; I saw Christ’s glory as he rose! The angels there attesting; shroud with grave-clothes resting. Christ, my hope, has risen: he goes before you into Galilee. That Christ is truly risen from the dead we know. Victorious king, thy mercy show!

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

Christ is risen, he has conquered death so that each of us may live. This is the Lord’s Passover; this is our Passover. Mary Magdalene, the first messenger of the resurrection, shows us that there is life ahead of us: she goes to the tomb with her heart full of anguish and her eyes full of tears, but she runs back to the apostles with her soul full of joy, her heart overflowing with good news to pass on: “He is risen.” The news of Easter is always joyful for everyone. Christ is risen and we with him, he is alive so that we too may live from him and through him. He goes before us in Galilee, he is always before us as a light that will never be extinguished, as a love that grows in us, animates our life’s struggles and gives them meaning. Yes, the joy of Easter is not just a passing emotion. It is born of a victory obtained at the price of a gift of life, that of Christ for us. Purified in the crucible of suffering and death, this joy proclaims that life always triumphs. It is a joy that has overcome doubt and fear because it has found its roots and strength in the resurrection.