March 27, 2016

Easter

March 27, 2016:  Easter Day / The Resurrection of the Lord

Please check out my Easter Vigil post, especially for the music!

  • 'Holy Spirit' chain:  God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power (1st reading)

      • 'Lamb,' 'sheep' tie bars:  Our lamb has been sacrificed (2nd reading); a Lamb redeems the sheep (sequence)

      • 'Stone' tie pin:  stone the builders rejected (psalm); stone was removed from the tomb (gospel)

      • White shirt (and socks):  color of robes, color of the day
      Listen

      • Hallelujah chorus, from Messiah/ Handel: flash mob (ignore it's at Christmas), soulful
      Pope Francis
      Urbi et Orbi blessing:  Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God’s mercy, out of love for us, died on the cross and rose again from the dead.  So we proclaim Jesus is Lord!  God’s mercy endures for ever.  We can trust him, and we thank him.  Before the abysses and chasms that provoke hatred and death, only an infinite mercy can bring salvation.  Only God can fill them with love, prevent us from falling into them, and help us in our journey to freedom and life.  He bridged the abyss of death and, with it, all mourning, lamentation, and pain.  The Lord makes us sharers of his life and enables us to see with love and compassion those who hunger and thirst, strangers and prisoners, the marginalized and the outcast, victims of oppression and violence.
      [Prayers for Syria, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Venezuela, concord between Israelis and Palestinians, solution to the war in Ukraine, victims of terrorism, peace in Africa, migrants and refugees, World Humanitarian Summit, areas affected by climate change, those persecuted for their faith, those who have lost hope and joy, the lonely and weak elderly, and young people.]
      Christ has trampled death and destruction, bringing life and immortality to light, giving us freedom, joy, light, and redemption.  Alleluia!  “I make all things new…  I give the water of life.”  May Jesus' message give us courage to blaze trails of reconciliation....  Video
      Read
      • Acts 10:34a, 37-43  Peter:  We saw what Jesus did.  They put him to death.  God raised him and let us see him.  He commissioned us to preach and testify God appointed him as judge.  All who believe in him will receive forgiveness of sins.
      • Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23  "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad."  His mercy endures forever.  I shall live and declare the Lord's works.  The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
        More "empty tomb" art
      • Col 3:1-4  If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above.  Your life is hidden with Christ.  When Christ appears, you will appear with him in glory.
      • 1 Cor 5:6b-8  Clear out the old yeast.  so you may become fresh dough.  Christ has been sacrificed.  Let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast of malice and wickedness but the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
      • Jn 20:1-9  Mary of Magdala saw the stone removed, ran to Peter and the disciple Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord, and we don’t know where they put him.”  The other disciple arrived first; he saw the cloths but didn't go in.  Peter arrived and went in; then the other one entered and believed.
      Reflect
        • Creighton:  Easter is a celebration of "new life”:  Jesus' resurrection, and the new life we have through faith and baptism.  All creation joins in.  We too are raised from the dead!  Our celebration becomes significant to the degree that we recognize this life within us, the fruits of the Spirit’s presence : love, joy, peace, patience.  The Orthodox Church emphasizes the primary reason for God’s incarnation in Jesus is sharing divine life with us:  “God became human so humans could become divine” (Athanasius).  For Orthodox believers God’s primary intention in the Incarnation is deification:  that his Spirit be poured upon believers so they may become more like God.  Today’s Sequence echoes that theme:  "Christ from death is risen, our new life obtaining."  Lord, give us the grace to open our hearts more fully to the Risen Jesus and become more God-like, radiating God's presence though our charity, joy, peace, and patience!
        • Passionist:  Hope is in the air!  We live in the resurrected Christ!  Maybe the Resurrection story can be described as a “bewilderment shot through with joy, when life was proclaimed where death was expected.”  Maybe this joyous bewilderment appears in a person we show kindness to when they don't expect it.  Perhaps we feel it when we realize the love we had for a loved one who's died proclaims the truth that death does not have to be the end.  Joyous bewilderment in the presence of refugee children crushed by war, in those suffering chronic illness, in the presence of the homeless, in those stricken by natural disasters, in the presence of those with no clean drinking water, in those who live in bitterness....  The Resurrection is the contradiction and cornerstone of my belief.  He died; we die.  He is risen; we are risen.  The Paschal Mystery is a bewildering mystery and comforting joy....
        • DailyScripture.net:  "John saw the empty tomb and believed":  What was it like for the disciple who had stood at the cross of Jesus and then laid him in a tomb on Good Friday, to come back three days later and discover that the sealed tomb was now empty?  John was the first apostle to reach the empty tomb. He  wasn't ready to see it and hear the angel, "Why seek the living among the dead?"  What led him to believe?  When John saw the tomb, he must have recalled Jesus' prophecy that he'd rise.  He realized no tomb could contain the Lord and giver of life, saw, and believed.  John testified as an eyewitness to Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection.  He bore witness to the "word of life," the incarnate Word, the word prophets announced, the word the Christian Church now preaches.  If Jesus hadn't risen from the dead and appeared to his disciples, we would've never heard of him.  Through the Holy Spirit, the Lord gives us eyes of faith to know him and the power of his resurrection.  The greatest joy we can have is to encounter Christ and know him as our Lord and Savior.
        • Easter-trumped saint, from Universalis:  John of Egypt, monk
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