The Resurrection: Easter Sunday 2025

                                                      The Resurrection:

Easter Sunday 2025 

April 20, 2025

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Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9

 

Easter morning always starts in the tomb where the body of Jesus lay. We note the stillness. The silence. The darkness as the reality of death settles in. The sun has not yet risen, the dew covers the ground. The women sleep deeply because of their grief. They will soon rise to anoint the body that has been laid to rest three days ago. Within the grave, a place of darkness now meets the darkness of the morning. Daylight faintly appears. There is slight movement. 

 

There is a rise of consciousness. A wince of pain. The body of Jesus begins to move. He tries to rise, but it weighed down because of the lashes on his back because of the scourging. He tries again, by placing his weight on his hands, and realizes that his hands have been tied to the cross. He struggles to sit up and learns to breathe again. He composes himself and pushes himself to the ground, and he stumbles forward. His feet cannot support his body because they are unstable. He slowly supports himself and brings a foot forward. He is groggy as his eyes struggle to see clearly. He takes a deeper breath and sees the approaching daylight and sets his eyes on the exterior of the tomb. His steps are awkward, and he moves gingerly. He learns to walk again on feet that have been destroyed.

 

Finally, he makes it to the outside of the tomb, the daylight appears, and he stops for a deeper breath. He stands upon the earth and realizes he is alive again. The one who was handed over by his own people and killed is now alive. He realizes that he has found favor with God and that God wants him to continue his mission of bringing a people to righteousness. He stands outside the tomb and knows he something dramatically has shifted. He leaves the tomb, walks through the garden, and must go into the city center of Jerusalem. He knows that it is still morning, and most people are asleep, but he goes to find a solitary woman who has been sitting in her courtyard filled with grief. She has been unable to sleep, and he enters the garden area, sees the woman lift her head as she notices the movement, and he says, “Mom. I’m here.”

 

Mary’s life was changed by the experience of her son. Mary of Magdala and the Disciples were changed by the reality that their friend returned to them and visibly appeared before them. The empty tomb was enough for them to realize that something earth-shaking happened and that Jesus had been raised from the dead. The Resurrection is not an idea. It is not an event. It is a personal experience of meeting the Risen Jesus and being offered his consolation. Equally remarkable is that Jesus did not return from the dead seeking vengeance or justice. He offered forgiveness, a new way, second, new chances. He carries with him the wounds we and humanity have done to him, and he bears that pain and suffering. They are constant reminders of the potential of the human heart. They are reminders to us that when we see pain and suffering in the world, we are beholding the wounds of Jesus. He offers us to look into those wounds and to find the Risen One.

 

Forgiveness and a new way. His death gives us life. His experience of death shows us that love is stronger than death and that the love is the only way forward for a believer. No more do we have to live in human justice. God’s justice is the new way forward where we can console each other in our woundedness, where he can know that our love for each other is worth it, where this love gives us hope, and we can be assured that we are close to God’s heart. All that we have done has been forgiven and we are allowed to be close to God once again. Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead and appeared to his mom, then to Mary Magdalene and Peter, James, John, and the Beloved Disciple. He came back for them and called them into deeper friendship. That’s not the end of the story: He came back for you. Today, he appears in your life, holding out his wounded hands, and he says, “Friend. I’m here.”

 

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 celebrated with the Octave of Easter

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• April 20, 1864. Father Peter de Smet left St Louis to evangelize the Sioux Indians. 
• April 21, 1926. Fr. General Ledochowski sent out a letter De Usu Machinae Photographicae. It stated that cameras should belong to the house, not the individual. Further, they should not be used for recreation or time spent on trifles rather than for the greater glory of God. 
• April 22, 1541. Ignatius and his first companions made their solemn profession of vows in the basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls. 
• April 23, 1644. A General Chapter of the Benedictines condemned the calumny that St Ignatius was not the real author of the Spiritual Exercises. A monk had earlier claimed that the content was borrowed from a work by Garzia Cisneros. 
• April 24, 1589. At Bordeaux, the Society was ordered to leave the city. It had been falsely accused of favoring the faction that was opposed to King Henry III. 
• April 25, 1915. Pierre Rousselot, Professor at the Institute Catholique in Paris, is wounded and taken prisoner during World War I. 
• April 26, 1935. Lumen Vitae, center for catechetics and religious formation was founded in Brussels.