Easter Sunday: He is Risen!

April 8, 2012

Vigil Mass: Gen. 1; Gen. 22; Exodus 14; Isaiah 54; Isaiah 55; Baruch 3; Ezekiel 36; Psalm 42 or 51; Romans 6; Mark 16:1-7

Mass during the Day: Acts 10:34, 37-43; Psalm 118; Colossians 3:1-4 (or 1 Cor. 5:6-8); John 20:1-9 or Luke 24:13-35

He is Risen! Alleluia!

                Good Friday has a strong grip on our consciousness. We are easily affected by the dramatic events of the day because we endure enough suffering on our own. It is easy for us to identify with some feelings of Jesus as he stumbles through his Passion. We are able to honor what Jesus is doing for us; at the same time we feel the weightiness of illness, dysfunction, broken relationships, and deep sorrow. We find that we reside in that sorrow as is it is a familiar friend. We look for meaning in it and try to find a way out, but we realize our powerlessness in the face of real suffering. We find that we are more of a Good Friday people than an Easter people. It is far easier to stay in the tomb in order to process our ambiguous feelings. We hang onto our memories of cherished times with loved ones and we want the world restored to its original beauty that we glimpsed at some point in our lives. We cling to hope while it is shrouded in darkness.

          The stillness of Holy Saturday keeps us inert. We do not feel like moving or doing much in order to properly pay respects to the dead Jesus. Our mourning is real; grief isolates us and causes us to move inwards. The tomb becomes comfortable as a place where we can say all those things we held back on saying while he was alive. We wait in vigil - hoping against hope that he will hear us and console us.

          It is a marvel that Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome arose from their sorrow and grief to go to the tomb to anoint the dead body of Jesus with spices. Though the anointing brings closure and allows them to say goodbye, it is difficult to muster strength to get out of bed and go to the tomb when feeling bereft. They knew they would have to wait for someone stronger to roll the large tombstone away. The next events were amazing (and it seems foolish that the young man clothed in a white robe told them not to be amazed) as they entered the empty tomb, the place where he was laid, and they saw and believed. The young man told them that Jesus of Nazareth has been raised and will meet his disciples and Peter in Galilee. The women too will see him, just as he told them.

          We approach Easter differently as the first disciples did. We do so through the Spirit of Christ who is alive to us and present in our memories. Though we know the rest of the story, we relive with Christ the events of his Passion because he has something significant to reveal to us. He ministry of freeing us and saving us is still at work. He comes to console us so we can share in his victory over sin and death. Those tyrants will never have the last word to any disciple of Jesus. He asks us to share in his joy - not that suffering and death are absent from us, but that we belong to a greater realm that includes our resurrection and everlasting happiness. The raised Jesus of Nazareth is still laboring hard for our benefit.

We unlikely will have a dramatic Easter moment the way the three Gospel women did. No. For us, Easter comes in tiny, nearly-insignificant, personal moments, but ones in which we can testify that God is at work taking some burdens off our shoulders or giving us fresh reassurance. Just as Jesus came into the world largely unknown, we experience his "rebirth" in equally obscured ways. We know they are real and that he is present to us continuing his ministry of consolation. These are intimate moments.

At church, we gather in stilled darkness; we wait in a hope that shows our reverent thankfulness to Jesus. We focus upon the steadfast God who is watching us listen again to God's story of salvation and friendship to us. This God created us and the world, and recreates us, brings life out of chaos and death, passes over us during plagues of death and destruction; and raises us to new life through the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. He is always active in our history. We pray that God will open our hearts even more widely to him as we remember the many ways he remains steadfast to us. God wants us to come to life fully - free from the burdens of this world - because we know God cares about our tiniest and weightiest concerns. God will save us from destruction as he has done before and call us forth into a bright, new life governed by his personal affection for us. He will raise us as he raised Jesus from the dead. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Themes for this Week’s Masses

First Reading: We follow the Acts of the Apostles in the Easter octave. Peter stands up on Pentecost to proclaim to Jews in Jerusalem that Jesus of Nazareth who they put to death has been vindicated by God and raised to new life. When the Jews realize the significance of their actions, they petition Peter to be baptized in the name of Jesus. Peter and John heal the crippled man at "the Beautiful Gate" at the temple. All who witnessed it recognized that the man used to be the crippled beggar. Peter and John preach to the Jews gathered at Solomon's portico and tell them all that the prophets and scripture say about Jesus. The priests, temple guards, and the Sadducees confront Peter and John and hold them in custody. The religious authorities question their teaching and healing power. The Sanhedrin dismissed them with instructions not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Peter, John, and the healed man persevere in their boldness. The Sanhedrin wait to see if this is of God or of another source of power.

Gospel: In Matthew, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary meet Jesus on the way and he exhorts them not to be afraid. The chief priests hire soldiers to say, "the disciples came and stole the body of Jesus." In John, Magdalene weeps outside the tomb and thinks Jesus is the gardener, until he speaks to her familiarly. In Luke, two disciples heading towards Emmaus meet Jesus along the way and he opens the scripture for them. As they recount their story to the Eleven, Jesus appears before them, beckons them not to be afraid, and eats with them. In John, six disciples are with Peter as they fish at the Sea of Tiberius. After a frustrating night of fishing, Jesus instructs them to cast their nets wide and they catch 153 large fish. The beloved disciple recognized the man on the beach as the Lord and they rush to meet him. In Mark, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene who told the Eleven about him. Two other disciples on the road returned to speak of their encounter, and then Jesus appears to them while they were at table.

Saints of the Week

No saints are remembered during the Easter octave.

This Week in Jesuit History

·         Apr 8, 1762. The French Parliament issued a decree of expulsion of the Jesuits from all their colleges and houses.

·         Apr 9, 1615. The death of William Weston, minister to persecuted Catholics in England and later an author who wrote about his interior life during that period.

·         Apr 10, 1585. At Rome, the death of Pope Gregory XIII, founder of the Gregorian University and the German College, whose memory will ever be cherished as that of one of the Society's greatest benefactors.

·         Apr 11, 1573. Pope Gregory XIII suggested to the Fathers who were assembling for the Third General Congregation that it might be well for them to choose a General of some nationality other than Spanish. Later he expressed his satisfaction that they had elected Everard Mercurian, a Belgian.

·         Apr 12, 1671. Francis Borgia, the 3rd general of the Society, was canonized by Pope Clement X.

·         Apr 13, 1541. Ignatius was elected general in a second election, after having declined the results of the first election several days earlier.

·         Apr 14, 1618. The father of John Berchmans is ordained a priest. John himself was still a Novice.