(Note: On behalf of my family, I wish you the fullness of Easter joy as we celebrate the foundation of our Christian hope in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. – Todd von Kampen)
Opening reflection (from Magnificat magazine, www.magnificat.com): Pope Benedict XVI wrote this about Easter Sunday: "Faith in the resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being; the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered. Through Jesus we do know 'the room where exiled love lays down its victory.' He Himself is the place, and He calls us to be with Him and in dependence on Him. He calls us to keep this place open within the world so that He, the exiled love, may reappear over and over again in the world ... God exists: that is the real message of Easter. Anyone who even begins to grasp what this means also knows what it means to be redeemed."
(Today's Scripture readings are available in the New American Bible translation – the one used in U.S. Catholic parishes – at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops website: http://www.usccb.org/nab/042411.shtml)
First Reading: Acts 10:34a, 37-43 (Revised Standard Version)
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
And Peter opened his mouth and said: “You know the word which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses to 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; but God raised him on the third day and made him manifest; not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation: This reading comes from St. Peter's first sermon to a Gentile audience, that of the Roman centurion Cornelius and his household. From now through Pentecost, the first reading each Sunday will come from Acts, St. Luke's account of the earliest years of the Church. So it is fitting to read one of the most compact, direct presentations of Jesus' life, death and resurrection that we have from the first pope.
The passage largely speaks for itself for those who already believe. Try, however, to read it with the eyes of someone who comes from outside Israel but has been posted there for some time. Cornelius no doubt had heard about John the Baptist, about Jesus and the strange things that took place in Jerusalem. What does it all mean? The Spirit prompts Cornelius to find out and Peter to tell him. So Cornelius becomes the first Gentile to join the Church (though, praise God, hardly the last). He is first outside the Chosen People to realize that Jesus died and rose for all.
Second Reading (first option): Colossians 3:1-4
A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Colossians.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Or: Second Reading (second option): 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8
A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.
Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation: The Church offers two options for the Epistle reading today. Both are from St. Paul, and both are brief but to the point. He reminds the Colossians that they believe Christ is risen. He has come to us in baptism. His Spirit lives in us. And why has this happened? He puts it in simple terms to the Corinthians: “Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us.” And this same Christ comes to us in the unleavened bread we receive at every Eucharist, changed in substance -- though not in appearance -- into the true body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord.
So Paul's congregations, and all Christians until the end of time, must keep their eyes focused on Him, not on the sinful, self-centered, destructive ways theyt have left behind. Persevere to the end, and when Jesus comes again, there we also will be.
Gospel: John 20:1-9
A reading from the holy gospel according to John. Glory to You, Lord.
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.
Meditation: The Gospel reading for this year's Easter Vigil gives us part of the scene on which we open here. As Mary Magdalene and two other women among Jesus' disciples approached the tomb, the angel came and rolled away the stone. But Jesus was already gone from there. How do we know this? John gives us an important piece of evidence: The linen cloths that wrapped Jesus' body are lying there. But the cloth that had been on Jesus' head has been rolled up – not merely cast aside. It didn't roll itself up. And a dead body couldn't do that. Neither would the Roman soldiers who had been guarding the tomb. Something has happened that cannot be explained!
John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” gets to the tomb first after Mary Magdalene alerts the Eleven. But he doesn't go in first. He leaves that to the one whom Jesus appointed as the Rock on which He would build His Church. Among the Church's first bishops, it is St. Peter, the first pope, who first witnesses the evidence that Jesus has risen from the dead. Then John enters. The one who was with Jesus to the end on the cross quickly believes. They may not yet have understood the Scriptures. But their belief in His resurrection begins here -- as will be the case shortly for Mary and the other women when the risen Jesus meets them face to face.
Let us say with them: “Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Close with individual prayer, followed by Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be
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