Word to the Wise
Saturday, April 20, 2019 - Easter Sunday: The Resurrection of the Lord At the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter - ABC
[Use at least three, or up to seven readings from the OT, but always include #3: 1) Gen 1:1-2:2 or 1, 26-31a 2) Gen 22:1-18 or 1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 3) Exod 14:15-15:1 4) Isa 54:5-14 5) Isa 55:1-11 6) Bar 3:9-15, 32-4:4 7) Ezek 36:16-17a, 18-28; NT Reading: Rom 6:3-11 Response after the Epistle: Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 [refrain: triple Alleluia""]"; Gospels for Years A, B, C: A- Matt 28:1-10 B- Mark 16:1-7 C- Luke 24:1-12,233]Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection. [Romans] "Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day." And they remembered his words. [Luke]
If the gruesome death of Jesus was not shock enough to his disciples, the empty tomb was yet another - a kind of "double-whammy!" It took time to process all of this. The two passages I have quoted above from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans and the Gospel According to Luke, represent the reflection of the early church on the significance of the events we celebrate during Holy Week. The seven scriptures that preceded those two were among many that were searched and provided support and understanding of a very big picture of God's continual effort to reach out to creation and humanity. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus is the culmination of that very long effort.
This evening, around the world, thousands of new believers will be baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Church will hear those ancient stories and prophecies, remember Jesus' words, spoken during his ministry, and read St. Paul's words as to what their (and our) baptism means. Before the gospel scripture this evening, the Church will proclaim the event with great "Alleluias!" It is the joy of "newness of life" that is proclaimed! All of us can draw inspiration from those new believers and in our welcome to them, we can find new energy to live out every day the life, death and resurrection of Jesus! AMEN