READING OF THE DAY First reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles Acts 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.”
Psalm 118 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever.” 4 Let those who fear the Lord say: “His love endures forever.”
The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” 17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. 18 The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19 Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
Second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians Col 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.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to John 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 Jesus, the grain of wheat sowed by God in the furrows of the earth, died, killed by the sin of the world. He remained two days in the tomb; but his death contained God’s love in all its power, released and made manifest on the third day, the day we celebrate today: the Easter of Christ the Lord. The words heard by the women at the tomb are also addressed to us: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen”. There is a word that transcends them, a word that only God can speak: it is the word of the resurrection. (Urbi et Orbi message, 1 April 2018)
FAUSTI - "They took the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they laid him". It is the cry of Mary Magdalene, who seeks and does not find the Beloved of her heart. Dead at the hands of her enemies, buried by friendly hands, she is now absent from the tomb. We are on the first day after the Sabbath. 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 toil, completing the Sabbath and Easter. Now we are on the first day of the week, which has become the Lord's day, Sunday. The great surprise on the morning of the new Easter is the empty tomb. How is it that the Lord is not where he was placed, where everyone is or will be placed forever? The tomb is the universal meeting place. There men are gathered, all equally defeated, prey to death. The only difference, for another momentary one, is between the already dead and the not yet dead. What Mary sees is a sign of the inconceivable. Mary cannot understand. She is running to announce the disappearance of Jesus. She thinks he's been stolen.
She hasn't yet understood that love conquers death. "She comes to Simon Peter and the other disciple." Peter, who has reneged, is named first. He is placed as the first of the disciples because he has experienced what makes us disciples. 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 in Jesus' womb and chest, which he then saw pierced. After Mary's announcement, Peter and the other disciple went out to go to the tomb. Peter and the other run together. But this one is faster. He arrives first at the tomb, as he arrives first to believe and to see the Risen One. For the heart puts wings on the feet and 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 stretched out and the shroud apart, wrapped in a place. The "place" par excellence for the Jews is the sanctuary ,God is no longer there. The Glory dwells in the Body of Jesus, the new sanctuary, where God removes every veil from His Face and ours. 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 recounted by the evangelist himself This "other" disciple sees with the heart. In Mary, finally, followed by the other two disciples and Thomas, is referred to the founding experience reserved for those who transmit to us the announcement of the Resurrection: they see and touch the Risen One. Finally, we come, who believe in their witness. . Each event, unique and unrepeatable, is seen only by those who are near in time and space. However, the word of those who witness Him makes Him present also to those who listen to Him. 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 credulonry, but a more reasonable reading of reality. The first disciples, contemporaries of 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 eyes. There always remains a veil on the face of the one who reads the Scripture, who is eliminated by conversion to Christ the Lord. And this is given to those who have contemplated His Love and love Him!
READING OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFirst reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 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.”
Psalm 118
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
“His love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
“His love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say:
“His love endures forever.”
The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”
17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of the righteous;
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
Second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians
Col 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.
RispondiEliminaGOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to John
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
Jesus, the grain of wheat sowed by God in the furrows of the earth, died, killed by the sin of the world. He remained two days in the tomb; but his death contained God’s love in all its power, released and made manifest on the third day, the day we celebrate today: the Easter of Christ the Lord. The words heard by the women at the tomb are also addressed to us: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen”. There is a word that transcends them, a word that only God can speak: it is the word of the resurrection. (Urbi et Orbi message, 1 April 2018)
FAUSTI - "They took the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they laid him". It is the cry of Mary Magdalene, who seeks and does not find the Beloved of her heart. Dead at the hands of her enemies, buried by friendly hands, she is now absent from the tomb. We are on the first day after the Sabbath.
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 toil, completing the Sabbath and Easter. Now we are on the first day of the week, which has become the Lord's day, Sunday.
The great surprise on the morning of the new Easter is the empty tomb.
How is it that the Lord is not where he was placed, where everyone is or will be placed forever?
The tomb is the universal meeting place. There men are gathered, all equally defeated, prey to death. The only difference, for another momentary one, is between the already dead and the not yet dead.
What Mary sees is a sign of the inconceivable.
Mary cannot understand.
She is running to announce the disappearance of Jesus.
She thinks he's been stolen.
She hasn't yet understood that love conquers death.
"She comes to Simon Peter and the other disciple."
Peter, who has reneged, is named first. He is placed as the first of the disciples because he has experienced what makes us disciples. 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 in Jesus' womb and chest, which he then saw pierced.
After Mary's announcement, Peter and the other disciple went out to go to the tomb. Peter and the other run together. But this one is faster. He arrives first at the tomb, as he arrives first to believe and to see the Risen One. For the heart puts wings on the feet and 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 stretched out and the shroud apart, wrapped in a place.
The "place" par excellence for the Jews is the sanctuary ,God is no longer there.
The Glory dwells in the Body of Jesus, the new sanctuary, where God removes every veil from His Face and ours.
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 recounted by the evangelist himself
This "other" disciple sees with the heart.
In Mary, finally, followed by the other two disciples and Thomas, is referred to the founding experience reserved for those who transmit to us the announcement of the Resurrection: they see and touch the Risen One.
Finally, we come, who believe in their witness. .
Each event, unique and unrepeatable, is seen only by those who are near in time and space.
However, the word of those who witness Him makes Him present also to those who listen to Him.
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 credulonry, but a more reasonable reading of reality.
The first disciples, contemporaries of 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 eyes.
There always remains a veil on the face of the one who reads the Scripture, who is eliminated by conversion to Christ the Lord.
And this is given to those who have contemplated His Love and love Him!