April 4, 2021
Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of the Lord
First Reading: Acts 10:34a, 37–43
Psalm: Psalm 118:1–2, 16–17, 22–23 (24)
Second Reading: Colossians 3:1–4
Gospel Acclamation: Cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7b-8a
Gospel: John 20:1–9
Introduction
The Easter Sunday service when I was growing up as a kid was wondrous.
My family and I belonged to a Presbyterian church that had been in existence since
the early 1700s. It was aptly named Hilltop Presbyterian Church because it sat on a
hilltop with a commanding view of the surrounding countryside, including the
adjacent cemetery, which flowed down the hill on two sides of it. The cemetery, too,
had gravestones going back to the 1700s.
The cemetery fired my imagination on Easter Sunday as we sang my favorite hymn,
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today by Charles Wesley, accompanied by our large, robed
choir and massive pipe organ. We were singing our victory song with joyous gusto.
Outside, the snows of winter were losing their icy grip, and the first signs of spring
were popping out. Easter Sunday was usually a bright sunny morning, as if all creation
were celebrating with us.
As we sang the last two verses, which I have supplied below, I would apply them in my
mind to the occupants of the many graves surrounding the church, ample evidence of
our mortality. I would imagine the graves opening and all those souls, reunited to their
transforming and rising bodies, would soar up to heaven in our final victory in Christ
over death.
3 Lives again our glorious King; Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Dying once, He all doth save: Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
4 Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head; Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise; Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies. Alleluia!
I believe that is the mood of the readings for the Mass of Easter Day.
First Reading
The Apostle Peter is giving a summary of the Good News concerning all that our
resurrected Lord has accomplished through His life, death and resurrection and His
astounding offer of forgiveness of our sins through his name, if we will entrust
ourselves to Him and follow in His steps.
Peter, a Jew, is at the house of Cornelius, a God-fearing Roman centurion and friend of
the Jews, preaching to a large Gentile audience which has been convened by a series
of miraculous events.
Another miracle happens in the very next verse following our reading: God pours out
the gift of the Holy Spirit upon these Gentiles in a visible and audible way, as they start
speaking in tongues and glorifying God. The circumcised believers, who had
accompanied Peter to the house of Cornelius, are astounded that God would do this.
Peter accepts the obvious sign of God’s acceptance of the Gentiles into His family and
accordingly orders them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
What an astounding turn of events and a cause for wonder and great celebration! It is
extremely exciting to see God so obviously at work.
Psalm
The selected Psalm seems custom tailored to accompany our first reading, even
though it was penned hundreds of years before that Pentecost event. But the day of
the Resurrection of our Lord is even more amazing. And this Psalm, which is a
Messianic prophecy celebrating our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ as the cornerstone
of the Church, who was largely rejected by His own people, is also amazing and is
connected to the first reading in many ways. Truly, it is a day to rejoice and be glad!
Second Reading
The second reading reminds us that we are a forgetful people. All of us are, Jew and
Gentile alike. We wonder why God does not keep giving us amazing signs and
wonders to keep us on a perpetual high, thinking that would keep us more closely
united with Him. The truth is that we would soon be seeking the gifts and not the
Giver. If we are not willing to trust Him in the unamazing and difficult times, then our
faith, hope and love have no depth. They are illusions.
The Apostle Paul points us towards home and the One who awaits us there, ready to
throw the door — and His arms — open wide to us on our arrival for this final
homecoming. We need to have our final destination and reward in view as we take the
hand of Jesus and walk through our present times. God helps us in our journey, as we
cooperate with Him, following His Son, our Way, Truth and Life.
Gospel Acclamation
Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed; let us then feast with joy in the Lord. (Cf.
1 Corinthians 5:7b-8a)
Sequence
In the Gospel Acclamation and Sequence, we return again to rejoicing and singing
over our victory in Christ. Celebrations are important, increasing our gratitude, faith,
hope and love and giving us powerful memories for when the days grow dark in our
present world. My childhood memories of Easter and that old Presbyterian church
help sustain me and enable me to see God’s faithful hand upon me from my youth.
Gospel
The Gospel reading is an interesting one. John only recorded Mary Magdalene going
to the tomb and finding the tomb open with the stone removed, nothing more about
her discovery and who was with her. Then John recorded her running to Simon Peter
and the disciple whom Jesus loved (John referring to himself, because he was
staggered by that truth) and reporting the following: “They have taken the Lord from
the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.” Notice the “we”; therefore,
more people than just Mary were involved in the discovery, as the other accounts
report. We also find out that she examined the tomb enough to know that it was
empty and immediately thought that the body has been stolen.
John recorded the two of them, Peter and himself, running to the tomb to see for
themselves. John got there first but waited for Peter and allowed him to enter first,
before entering himself.
The Ignatius Study Bible New Testament has the following note on the significance of
John deferring to Peter to enter first:
20:4 the other disciple: John, the evangelist himself. Luke makes similar
mention of certain disciples, including Peter, running to the tomb on Easter
morning (Luke 24:12, 24).… reached the tomb first: John defers to Peter by
letting him enter the tomb first (20:6). This is more than a polite gesture, as it
reflects his deference to the preeminent honor and authority that Jesus has
bestowed on Simon (Matthew 16:16–19). • Allegorically (John Scotus Erigena,
Hom. in Prol. Jn.): the tomb is the Sacred Scriptures. Peter is faith, which is the
first thing we bring to its pages, and John is understanding, which afterward
enters and penetrates their meaning more deeply. Morally, Peter and John
represent the active and contemplative missions of the Church, so that even
when contemplatives are the first to arrive at a deeper understanding of the
faith, deference is given to the hierarchical leadership, who later defines and
promulgates their authentic insights.
Peter and John find the tomb empty, as Mary Magdalene reported, but John notes
that the grave cloths appear to have been rolled up in an orderly fashion, not
something grave robbers or the authorities would have bothered to do. And so, John
records that he saw and believed but declines to describe the content and extent of
his belief. The consensus of the commentators is that John believed that Christ had
risen and taken the time to put the grave cloths in order before leaving the tomb — or
perhaps the angels did it. At any rate, clearly something supernatural had happened.
John then records that they had really not expected Jesus to rise from the dead.
And there the Gospel reading ends. But wait a minute! What about the rest of the
story? Easter lasts seven weeks, until Pentecost, in the Catholic Church. It’s not just one
day, so there is plenty of time to unfold and savor the rest of the amazing story in the
daily and Sunday readings.
Conclusion
It is easy for truths and stories to lose their luster and wonder in the retelling and reenacting. So, we
need to slow down and take the time to savor and remember, to reflect on how the Lord’s hand has been
upon your life, and the special times you have had with Him. I would encourage you to read or listen to
the daily readings on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website during the rest of the
Easter season. They don’t take long, and you will be glad you heard “the rest of the story”.
Here is a link you can use: https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar .
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