DEAD OR ALIVE? - EASTER SUNDAY (4/9/2023)

EASTER SUNDAY
April 9, 2023

Acts 10:34, 37-43
Psalm 118
Col.3 1-4 or 1 Cor. 5:6-8
Sequence
John 20:1-9

DEAD OR ALIVE?

In many ways, that is exactly the key question about Jesus. I heard a story about a theology professor at a Catholic college, who would ask his freshman students to list the ten living persons they most admired. The name of Jesus Christ never appeared on anyone's list! When the professor remarked about this, the students' responses were always the same - not one student in his Catholic theology class thought of Jesus as being a living person!

However, in Luke's narrative of the resurrection, the angel asked the women at the tomb, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" (Luke 24:5). Only dead people are in tombs, but "He is not here; he has risen."

ACTS

Our first reading represents a sample and summary of the earliest Christian preaching of the Kerygma, the basic Christian message. It proclaims Jesus' life and ministry, emphasizing that "they put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but this man God  raised on the third day." It makes explicit the connection between the death of Jesus on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday, thereby completing the Paschal Triduum. The reading also states that the disciples "ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead." Some scholars see "Eucharistic implications" in the accounts of the post-resurrection meals.

Psalm 118 is the Responsorial, and it is a great psalm to celebrate Easter! "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endures forever...I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord...The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."

COLOSSIANS OR 1 CORINTHIANS

Today's liturgy offers two options for the second reading: Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:7-8. The Colossians reading brings out the fact that Christ is now seated at the right hand of God and we too have been "raised with Christ."

The Corinthians passage relates to the Jewish Passover, when the Israelites had to get rid of any old yeast or leaven and use unleavened bread. Easter is, of course, the great Christian Passover. "Christ our Passover has been sacrificed." Because of this connection with Jewish Passover, some liturgists have expressed a preference for this option.

SEQUENCE

The ancient sequence, Victimae Paschali Laudes (Praises to the Paschal Victim), comes between the second reading and the gospel. It is obligatory on Easter; however, in my experience, it is often enough omitted and this seems to me a great loss. It is  a beautiful and powerful expression of  praise and thanksgiving for the resurrection, containing several memorable phrases:

A Lamb the sheep redeems...
The Prince of Life, who died, reigns immortal
Speak, Mary, declaring what you saw wayfaring...
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen; to Galilee he goes before you...
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!

GOSPEL

Each evangelist approaches the resurrection narrative in a slightly different way. Although the other gospels mention several women going to visit Jesus' burial place, John concentrates on only one - Mary Magdalene. She is called the "apostle to the Apostles" because she was the first to announce to them that Jesus' tomb was empty.

John is the only evangelist to relate that Peter and the "other disciple" (presumably John himself), ran to the tomb to see for themselves. John states that the "other disciple" saw the burial cloths a wrappings and believed. He adds the comment that "as yet they did not understand the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead."

EASTER FAITH

Every time we recite the Creed, we say that Christ "rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures."
In Romans 10:9 we read, "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

The overwhelming theme of Easter is, of course, joy and victory at the resurrection of the Lord. Another theme has to be Easter faith. Let us pray for the grace of renewed faith, in imitation of the "other disciple," who saw the burial cloths and believed. For me personally, reading and studying about the Shroud of Turin has been a  tremendous aid to faith and prayer.

Jesus Christ is Lord and he is risen from the dead! Alleluia!