Word to the Wise
Sunday, April 21, 2019 - Easter Sunday: The Resurrection of the Lord; The Mass of Easter Day - ABC
[Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8; John 20:1-9 or Luke 24:13-35 (for afternoon Masses),234]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. [John] "Oh how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. [Luke]
Those who attended the Easter Vigil and heard the many scripture passages that speak of God's plan of salvation and then the version of the resurrection story from the Gospel According to Luke would have been given a version of what happened in the years after Jesus' resurrection! The story had to be told and proclaimed with a mighty Alleluia! But, there had to have been more than simply the personal experience of a few people. In the gospel passage for today from the Gospel According to John, the other disciple "saw and believed." This is what that gospel summons everyone to do, but it speaks also to how the message was proclaimed. In other words, the story of Jesus' death and resurrection was the fulfillment of all the prophets and scriptures that were part of the Jewish experience of God!
Today we hear the scriptures that came after Jesus' death and resurrection, the preaching of those who knew the original witnesses or, like St. Paul, had a privileged experience of the Risen Christ. At the celebration of the Eucharist today we renew our baptismal profession of faith in a very few phrases, but we stand on the shoulders of these witnesses for whom the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection was so important that it was worth their very lives to tell! Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus (the alternative gospel scripture for today), we need to be reminded that the story of Jesus is part of a greater story of God's love for us. We have that story in the scriptures and we pass it on to the generations that follow us. It is the reason for our ALLELUIA! today. If our Easter greeting is to be complete, we should say not "Happy Easter!" but CHRIST IS RISEN, ALLELUIA! To each and every member of my "Beloved Congregation," I wish the glory of that proclamation and a wonderful celebration of the Easter story! AMEN