| Bread From Heaven Meditations on the Sunday Gospel for the Year of the Eucharist |
| First Week of Easter Beginning Sunday March 27th, 2005 |
| The Word of the Lord |
| On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the 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 |
| Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Truly Risen! |
| THE BACKGROUND |
| Jesus the Apostles and You |
Imagine that you are with Mary Magdalene walking
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?
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?
| TALKING WITH GOD - Lord, my heart is filled with joy. This is the 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!!! |
| Conversation Starters with God: 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] |
| QUOTES ON THE EUCHARIST |
"Celebrating this mystery, we not only renew what
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
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
LET US PRAY – From the Exsultet sung at the
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
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
| BACK TO Year of the Eucharist Page |
| Mary Magdalene had witnessed the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus. She watched in agony as her Lord died a painful death nailed to His Cross. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that He was dead. Since Christ had died on the eve of the Sabbath His burial was quick and incomplete (cf. Luke 23:54-56). Mary had observed the Sabbath rest and then arose early, “while it was still dark”, to go to the tomb to finish the anointing and burial preparations. When she arrives in the garden and notices that the stone had been moved she flees immediately to tell others thinking that someone has stolen the body. The remainder of the passage deals with the arrival of Peter and John at the tomb and their reaction to what they see. Unfortunately much is lost in our modern translation. In the Greek the passage “saw the burial cloths [lying] there” indicates that the cloths were flattened or deflated. It indicates that the bandages were not taken off and folded up nicely but rather point to Jesus “passing through” them in much the same way as He will do later on that evening through the doors of the Upper Room. |