God’s Final Word: Easter Sunday, 2024

                                                              God’s Final Word:

Easter Sunday, 2024 

March 31, 2024

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Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47

 

Last night the whole church gathered to witness God’s saving event through the Cross of Jesus. Amid the pain and suffering that Jesus of Nazareth endured, God remained present to the cries and pleas of the people, and even heard the prayers of Jesus. As a people, churches across the globe collectively remembered the many saving acts of God, assuring us that still today, God hears our prayers and is moved by our love for one another.

 

          This morning, we become aware of what is almost incomprehensible. Our creative God has raised Jesus of Nazareth from the grave. God has vindicated Jesus and has definitively declared that Jesus was the true, righteous representative of God. Because of this, Jesus became our Christ of faith, the one who is seated at God’s right hand to intercede for us and to bring us near to God’s heart. Though painful and unjust, the death of Jesus was the way God was able to tell us that God cares deeply for our suffering. God understands it and God’s heart is broken when we feel pain.

 

          You can imagine how perplexing that first morning was when Mary of Magdala went to the tomb and found the stone was rolled away. She did not go in, but in her confusion, she ran to tell Peter and the other disciple because she concluded that someone had rolled the stone away and taken his body. It was when the other disciple and Peter entered the tomb, saw how carefully the burial cloths were laid, that they began to sense that something supernatural had happened. They began to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. The empty tomb was enough proof that God continued to be active in their salvation history.

 

          The resurrection remains perplexing to us today. We take it for granted, but do we let the reality of this event sink into our consciousness? Jesus has been raised from the dead and has become our Christ, our Advocate, the one who brings our prayers to God, the Steadfast Creator. That is a marvelous reality. It ought to change everything in our life. We have life with God because of the Christ event. We live in a world of possibilities, of newness, of promise. This is a God of creative possibilities. No more do we have to focus on sin or hardship. For a Christian, when we think of death, we automatically think of life. The sign of a Christian must be the smile. Or a sigh. What a relief we have because of the creative way God enters our world to call us closer. We seek what is above because we live in the “now” and “not yet.”

 

          Since the Resurrection, the ministry of Jesus has been one of consolation. He first visited his mom to ease her pain, and then he went to Mary Magdalene who poured our her heart to him. He then went to places where there was once love so he could return and restore that love to its proper and privileged place, which is the reason he went to his disciples to wish them peace. He comes to us today when we have estrangement or tension in relationships. He is there to help us restore the pure love that once welcomed and forgave and healed. He tends the pain and heartache that we have, and he draws us together so we can console and strengthen one another. He gives us one another as a gift to be cherished and honored. He wants us to love one another without restrictions, and to have any blockages removed. He is going to keep trying, over and over again, as we believe more fully in the power of his resurrection, and when we reconcile, we will know the power of love, and we will give thanks to God of all possibilities, which is the reason we sing out today: Alleluia. Alleluia.        

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

Monday: (Acts 2) 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. 

 

Tuesday: (Acts 2) When the Jews realize the significance of their actions, they petition Peter to be baptized in the name of Jesus. 

 

Wednesday: (Acts 3) Peter and John heal the crippled man at "the Beautiful Gate" at the temple. 

 

Thursday: (Acts 3) All who witnessed the healing recognize 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. 

 

Friday (Acts 4) 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. 

 

Saturday (Acts 4) 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: 

Monday: (Matthew 28) 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." 

 

Tuesday: (John 20) Magdalene weeps outside the tomb and thinks Jesus is the gardener, until he speaks to her familiarly. 

 

Wednesday (Luke 24) Two disciples heading towards Emmaus meet Jesus along the way and he opens the scripture for them. 

 

Thursday (Luke 24) As they recount their story to the Eleven, Jesus appears before them, beckons them not to be afraid, and eats with them. 

 

Friday (John 21) 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. 

 

Saturday (Mark 16) 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

 

• March 31, 1548: Fr. Anthony Corduba, rector of the College of Salamanca, begged Ignatius to admit him into the Society so as to escape the cardinalate which Charles V intended to procure for him. 
• April 1, 1941. The death of Hippolyte Delehaye in Brussels. He was an eminent hagiographer and in charge of the Bollandists from 1912 to 1941. 
• April 2, 1767. Charles III ordered the arrest of all the Jesuits in Spain and the confiscation of all their property. 
• April 3, 1583. The death of Jeronimo Nadal, one of the original companions of Ignatius who later entrusted him with publishing and distributing the Jesuit Constitutions to the various regions of the early Society. 
• April 4, 1534. Peter Faber (Pierre Favre) ordained a deacon in Paris. 
• April 5, 1635. The death of Louis Lallemant, writer and spiritual teacher. 
• April 6, 1850. The first edition of La Civilta Cattolica appeared. It was the first journal of the restored Society.