FAUSTI - "They have taken the Lord from the tomb and we don't know where they have put Him". It is the cry of Mary Magdalene, who seeks and does not find the Beloved of her heart. He died by the hands of enemies, buried by friendly hands, and is now absent from the tomb. We are on the first day after Saturday. Son of man and Son of God, who, with Blood and Water, communicated His life to His brothers and sisters. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus responded with love to His love: they prepared the great feast by placing Him in the tomb. Here, on the seventh day, the Lord rested from His labour, accomplishing Saturday and Easter. Now we are on the first day of the week, which has become the day of the Lord, the Sunday. The great surprise of the morning of the new Easter, is the empty tomb. How come the Lord is not where he has been placed, where everyone is or will be placed ? The tomb is the place of the universal convention. There, men are assembled, all equally exhausted, prey of death. The only difference, at the moment, is between those who are already dead and those who are not. What Mary sees is a sign of the inconceivable. Mary cannot understand. She runs to announce the disappearance of Jesus. She thinks that they have stolen Him. She has not yet understood that love overcomes death. "She goes to Simon Peter and the other disciple. Peter, who denied Him, was named first. He is placed as the first of the disciples because he has experienced what disciples do to us : the Lord's faithfulness to our infidelity. The "other disciple" is not simply the other between two, but the "other", the different. In fact, he placed his head on the womb and heart of Jesus, which he has seen pierced. After Mary's announcement, Peter and the other disciple leave to go to the tomb. Peter and the other run together. But this is faster. He first arrives at the tomb, as he first comes to believe and see the Risen One. In fact, the heart puts wings at the feet and at the mind. The friend, who loves as he is loved, precedes the one who is first of the disciples: the primacy is always of love! They also see the linen lying down and the shroud wrapped in a place. The "place" par excellence for the Jews is the sanctuary. The Glory dwells in the Body of Jesus, the new sanctuary, where God removes every veil from His and our Face. Seeing this, the beloved disciple believes in Jesus, Lord of life, even without having seen Him. He is the prototype of those who, after him, will believe in Jesus without seeing Him, through the signs told by the evangelist himself This "other" disciple sees with the heart. In Mary, finally, followed by the other two disciples and by Thomas, is reported the fundamental experience reserved for those who transmit to us the announcement of the Resurrection: they see and touch the Risen One. Finally, we come, we who believe in their witness. . Every event, unique and unrepeatable, is seen only by those who are close in time and space. However, the word of those who bear witness it also makes it present to those who hear it. Man is the one who knows how to read reality. Every event is a sign, which is significant only for those who understand it. Faith is not blind: it is intelligence that grasps the meaning of facts and realizes why they are so and not differently. Believing is not credulousness, but a more reasonable reading of reality. The first disciples, contemporaries to Jesus, believe in Him not only because they have seen Him Risen, but also because they have experienced what it means for them that He is Risen. We, who come later, believe in their Word. Accepting their testimony, we see with their own eyes. There always remains a veil on the face of those who read Scripture, which is eliminated by conversion to Christ the Lord. And this is given to those who have contemplated His Love and love Him!
Alleluia CF. 1 COR 5:7B-8A R. Alleluia, alleluia. Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed; let us then feast with joy in the Lord. R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel JN 20:1-9 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.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER The Gospel describes Mary Magdalene by immediately pointing out that she was not a woman of easy enthusiasm. In fact, after her first visit to the tomb, she returned disappointed to the place where the disciples hid. Then the gospels tell of a second journey of Mary Magdalene to the tomb of Jesus. She was stubborn, she was not convinced! It is while she is leaning near the tomb, with her eyes full of tears, that God surprises her in the most unexpected way. She discovers the most shocking event in human history when she is finally called by name: "Mary!". How beautiful it is to think that the first apparition of the Risen One - according to the Gospels - took place in such a personal way! That there is someone who knows us, who sees our suffering and disappointment, and who is moved for us, and calls us by name. Every man is a story of love that God writes on this earth. In the hour of weeping, and in the hour of abandonment, to listen to the Risen Jesus who calls us by name. This is our strength and this is our hope. (General Audience, 17 May 2017) Reading 1ACTS 10:34A, 37-43 Peter proceeded to speak and said: "You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name." Responsorial PsalmPS 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23. R. (24) This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. or: R. Alleluia. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Israel say, “His mercy endures forever.” R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. or: R. Alleluia. “The right hand of the LORD has struck with power; the right hand of the LORD is exalted. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.” R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. or: R. Alleluia. The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes. R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. or: R. Alleluia. Reading 2COL 3:1-4 Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.
FAUSTI - "They have taken the Lord from the tomb and we don't know where they have put Him". It is the cry of Mary Magdalene, who seeks and does not find the Beloved of her heart. He died by the hands of enemies, buried by friendly hands, and is now absent from the tomb. We are on the first day after Saturday.
RispondiEliminaSon of man and Son of God, who, with Blood and Water, communicated His life to His brothers and sisters.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus responded with love to His love: they prepared the great feast by placing Him in the tomb. Here, on the seventh day, the Lord rested from His labour, accomplishing Saturday and Easter. Now we are on the first day of the week, which has become the day of the Lord, the Sunday.
The great surprise of the morning of the new Easter, is the empty tomb.
How come the Lord is not where he has been placed, where everyone is or will be placed ?
The tomb is the place of the universal convention. There, men are assembled, all equally exhausted, prey of death. The only difference, at the moment, is between those who are already dead and those who are not.
What Mary sees is a sign of the inconceivable.
Mary cannot understand.
She runs to announce the disappearance of Jesus.
She thinks that they have stolen Him.
She has not yet understood that love overcomes death.
"She goes to Simon Peter and the other disciple.
Peter, who denied Him, was named first. He is placed as the first of the disciples because he has experienced what disciples do to us : the Lord's faithfulness to our infidelity.
The "other disciple" is not simply the other between two, but the "other", the different.
In fact, he placed his head on the womb and heart of Jesus, which he has seen pierced.
After Mary's announcement, Peter and the other disciple leave to go to the tomb. Peter and the other run together. But this is faster. He first arrives at the tomb, as he first comes to believe and see the Risen One. In fact, the heart puts wings at the feet and at the mind.
The friend, who loves as he is loved, precedes the one who is first of the disciples: the primacy is always of love!
They also see the linen lying down and the shroud wrapped in a place.
The "place" par excellence for the Jews is the sanctuary.
The Glory dwells in the Body of Jesus, the new sanctuary, where God removes every veil from His and our Face.
Seeing this, the beloved disciple believes in Jesus, Lord of life, even without having seen Him. He is the prototype of those who, after him, will believe in Jesus without seeing Him, through the signs told by the evangelist himself
This "other" disciple sees with the heart.
In Mary, finally, followed by the other two disciples and by Thomas, is reported the fundamental experience reserved for those who transmit to us the announcement of the Resurrection: they see and touch the Risen One.
Finally, we come, we who believe in their witness. .
Every event, unique and unrepeatable, is seen only by those who are close in time and space.
However, the word of those who bear witness it also makes it present to those who hear it.
Man is the one who knows how to read reality. Every event is a sign, which is significant only for those who understand it.
Faith is not blind: it is intelligence that grasps the meaning of facts and realizes why they are so and not differently. Believing is not credulousness, but a more reasonable reading of reality.
The first disciples, contemporaries to Jesus, believe in Him not only because they have seen Him Risen, but also because they have experienced what it means for them that He is Risen.
We, who come later, believe in their Word.
Accepting their testimony, we see with their own eyes.
There always remains a veil on the face of those who read Scripture, which is eliminated by conversion to Christ the Lord.
And this is given to those who have contemplated His Love and love Him!
Alleluia CF. 1 COR 5:7B-8A
RispondiEliminaR. Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed;
let us then feast with joy in the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel JN 20:1-9
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.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
RispondiEliminaThe Gospel describes Mary Magdalene by immediately pointing out that she was not a woman of easy enthusiasm. In fact, after her first visit to the tomb, she returned disappointed to the place where the disciples hid. Then the gospels tell of a second journey of Mary Magdalene to the tomb of Jesus. She was stubborn, she was not convinced! It is while she is leaning near the tomb, with her eyes full of tears, that God surprises her in the most unexpected way. She discovers the most shocking event in human history when she is finally called by name: "Mary!".
How beautiful it is to think that the first apparition of the Risen One - according to the Gospels - took place in such a personal way! That there is someone who knows us, who sees our suffering and disappointment, and who is moved for us, and calls us by name. Every man is a story of love that God writes on this earth. In the hour of weeping, and in the hour of abandonment, to listen to the Risen Jesus who calls us by name. This is our strength and this is our hope. (General Audience, 17 May 2017)
Reading 1ACTS 10:34A, 37-43
Peter proceeded to speak and said:
"You know what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.
We are witnesses of all that he did
both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.
This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible,
not to all the people, but to us,
the witnesses chosen by God in advance,
who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
He commissioned us to preach to the people
and testify that he is the one appointed by God
as judge of the living and the dead.
To him all the prophets bear witness,
that everyone who believes in him
will receive forgiveness of sins through his name."
Responsorial PsalmPS 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23.
R. (24) This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R. Alleluia.
“The right hand of the LORD has struck with power;
the right hand of the LORD is exalted.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.”
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2COL 3:1-4
Brothers and sisters:
If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.