Meditations on the Sunday Gospel for the Year of the Eucharist
Beginning Sunday March 27th, 2005
of the Lord
tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the
stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon
Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told
them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't
know where they put him." So Peter and the other disciple
went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other
disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he
bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb
and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered
his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate
place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had
arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they
did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from
the dead. John 20:1-9
Indeed, He is Truly
Risen!
Apostles and You
silently through the early morning hours towards the tomb.
What are your thoughts as you stumble along in dark
before dawn? Are you afraid that you may meet soldiers at
the tomb? Do you expect to find anyone there? Are you
wondering about who might move the stone for you? What
goes through your mind when you see in the dim morning
light that the stone has been moved?
Now imagine that you are Peter. What are you
thinking of as you race John toward the tomb? Do you
hear a rooster off in the distance? Are you angry that
someone may have taken Jesus’ body? What enters your
mind as you stoop to enter the tomb? When you notice
that the cloths are empty does your heart race? Do you
want to laugh? Cry? Run to find Jesus? What are you
feeling as you and John go back to your homes?
day that You have made. I do rejoice and I am glad. I am glad to be able to
spend time with You once again. During my Lenten journey and especially
during my Holy Week devotions I watched as You were betrayed, crucified,
died, and buried. I began to try to imagine what Your followers must have felt
when the tomb was sealed shut. I tried to place myself in their shoes and how
they must have thought that they would never see You again. But as I look at
the power of Your Resurrection present in the Holy Eucharist I am glad and I
rejoice for this day, this Resurrection day, is the day You have made. Alleluia,
Alleluia, a thousand times Alleluia!!!
Lord, Your Resurrection gives be new hope in my own resurrection at the end of the world.
Show me how I might live totally with this mind so that my own resurrection may be one to
eternal life. [ask God for the grace of totality of pursuit of the Kingdom and then listen]
Lord, in this Gospel You give me two powerful witnesses to Your love and life. Like me,
they were both sinners who fell deeply in love with You. Help me to imitate Mary Magdalene
and have You always find me, like her, at Your feet. Help me to imitate Peter and learn from
him never to despair of Your forgiveness. [pause and listen]
EUCHARIST
Christ did in the Upper Room, but we also enter into the
mystery of His death! "We proclaim Your death!"-
redeeming death. "Christ is risen!" We are sharers in the
Sacred Triduum and the night of Easter. We are sharers in
the saving mystery of Christ as we await His coming in
glory. Through the institution of The Eucharist we have
entered the end times, the time of awaiting Christ's second
and definitive coming, when the world will be judged and
at the same time the work of redemption will be brought to
completion. The Eucharist does not merely speak of all
this. In The Eucharist - all this is celebrated - in It all this is
fulfilled. Truly The Eucharist is the Great Sacrament of
The Church. The Church celebrates The Eucharist, and at
the same time The Eucharist makes the Church."
- Pope John Paul II
Easter Vigil Mass -
Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!
Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Saviour shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people!
My dearest friends, standing with me in this holy light,
join me in asking God for mercy,
that he may give his unworthy minister
grace to sing his Easter praises.
It is truly right
that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God, the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam's sin
to our eternal Father!
This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.
The Entire Exsultet can be found here: http://www.catholicculture.org/lit/prayers/view.cfm?id=1227