{"id":720,"date":"2019-05-10T11:45:28","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T11:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=720"},"modified":"2019-05-10T11:54:08","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T11:54:08","slug":"21-april-2019-c-easter-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=720","title":{"rendered":"21 April 2019 (C) EASTER SUNDAY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A. The Bible as\nGuide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue: <\/strong>The Risen Christ Centre of Christian life. Christian\nwitness <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. The Bible as Guide in Life and\nLiturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Reading <\/em>(Acts 10:34, 37-43). We have eaten and drunk with him after his\nresurrection. <\/em>This is Peter\u2019s address to the pagan centurion Cornelius and\nhis household at Caesarea, after Cornelius had\nsent for Peter at the Lord\u2019s suggestion. Cornelius\u2019 household were obviously\ninterested in becoming followers of Christ. The sermon of Peter which we have\nin today\u2019s reading was probably typical of an early Christian presentation of\nthe Gospel message. It began with the baptism by John the Baptist, the\nanointing by the Holy Spirit, and gave the central events of Christ\u2019s ministry,\nhis miracles through the power of the Spirit, his crucifixion, resurrection and\npost-resurrection appearances to show that he had truly risen in his bodily\nexistence. It also gave Christ\u2019s mandate to his apostles to preach that he was\nGod\u2019s appointed messenger and the saviour of the world. Early sermons such as\nthese gave the framework of the Gospel tradition that would later be consigned\nto writing in all four gospels: from the preaching of John the Baptist to the\nresurrection. The call at the end to believe in Christ and repent of sins is\nvalid for all times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm\n117). The stone that the builders\nrejected has become the corner stone.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading <\/em>(Colossians\n3:1-4). You must look for the things that\nare in heaven, where Christ is. <\/em>This section of the epistle to the\nColossians is chosen as appropriate for Easter Sunday when we commemorate the\nresurrection of Christ and his return in glory to the Father, where he\nconstantly prays that his work on earth through his Church be successful. Christians\nare united to him in baptism, and by God\u2019s grace are united with him in heaven.\nThe passage calls on us to think of these consoling truths. It is all in\nkeeping with Christ\u2019s own words: Store up treasure for yourselves in heaven;\nwhere your treasure in, there will your hearts be also (see Matthew 6:19-21).\nNo one can serve two masters. Today\u2019s reading is no generic statement without\nsubstance. In its context in the Epistle it is preceded by the exhortation: \u201cAs\nyou therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives\nin him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as your\nwere taught, abounding in thanksgiving\u201d (Colossians 2:6-7). And in the same\nletter, today\u2019s passage continues with the consequences of belief in this new\nlife in Christ, namely on the negative side putting to death everything that is\nearthly, listing first four sexual practices, then other minor offences, ending\nwith a list of works indicated by belief in Christ: kindness, humility,\nforgiveness and such like. The Easter invitation to have minds and hearts set\non Christ does not foster withdrawal from social commitments. Rather does it\nimply this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternative Second\nReading <\/em>(1 Corinthians 5:6-8). In the immediate preceding context Paul had\ncondemned the abuse in the Christian community at Corinth where a man was living with his\nstep-mother, something condoned by the community. Paul alerts to the danger of\nthe bad example. He is thinking against the background of the Jewish Passover\nwhen all bread with yeast (leavened) had to be removed for the festival, and\nthe sacrifice of the paschal lamb performed. Leaven (yeast) is here taken as a\nsymbol of corruption. Easter should be celebrated in holiness, symbolically\nwith the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. For our own day this can be a\ncall for the traditional Easter confession, the sacrament of reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel <\/em>(John\n29:1-9). He must rise from the dead. <\/em>There\nare different accounts in the New Testament of the resurrection of Christ and\nhis appearances to chosen followers. Paul (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) lists five\nappearances, first to Peter and last of all to Paul himself. Today\u2019s account by\nJohn in the Fourth Gospel is but part of a series of episodes: first the empty\ntomb, without any appearance of the risen Lord (John 20:1-10); then an\nappearance to Mary Magdalene (11-18), then to the disciples without Thomas\n(19-23), and then with Thomas (24-29). Today\u2019s reading is about the visit to a\ntomb found empty. Mary Magdalene suspects robbery. The \u201cother disciple\u201d\n(probably the beloved disciple) recognized Peter\u2019s special privileged position.\nThe tidy situation with regard to the items of clothes rules out robbery. The\n\u201cother disciple\u201d has an insight into the resurrection, and he and the Church\nwill later see in this the fulfilment of Scripture. A certain unevenness can be\nperceived in the narrative (for instance Mary Magdalene, although alone, says\n\u201cwe\u201d do not know), due to the use of earlier traditions in which a number of\nwomen go to the tomb. In this section of his longer narrative the evangelist\nrearranges earlier traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection and Dialogue: <\/strong>The Risen\nChrist Centre of Christian life. Christian witness <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first reading Peter stresses that the apostles are attested\nwitnesses to Jesus\u2019 resurrection, with the task of proclaiming to all what\nJesus\u2019 saving mission meant. The message of the second reading is that all\nfollowers of Christ should be witnesses to the new life in Christ in a world\nthat often has a contrary message. There is fruit for reflection in this for us\ntoday.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Belief in the\nresurrection of Christ and of Christ at God\u2019s right hand is, in a sense,\nrevolutionary. It calls for Christian living and Christian witness in an\nindifferent or unbelieving world. By union with Christ in baptism Christians in\na sense have died to one form of living, and now have a new life, in the words\nof today\u2019s reading \u201chidden with Christ in God\u201d. This is not a life of detachment\nfrom the world or human society, no more than Christ\u2019s life in God is. As Pope\nFrancis reminded us early in is pontificate, the centre of the Church is\nChrist, not the Pope. Without awareness of Christ as head and centre of the\nChurch, Christian life is disoriented. \nThe risen Christ, now in glory, is the same Christ who has given us the\nBeatitudes, and other teaching. He is the Christ who has sent his Spirit on the\nChurch and has directed it confidently in the mission to pagans beyond Judaism,\ncountering unacceptable pagan beliefs and practices.  Hence it is that in this same letter,\nimmediately after today\u2019s reading, the implications of belief in the Easter\nJesus are spelt out. Paul\u2019s words merit citation in full. He first spells out\nfive prevailing practices, unacceptable to believers in Christ, common in the\nsociety in which Colossian Christians found themselves. Paul\u2019s words are\n(Colossians 3:5-8): \u201c<\/strong>Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly:\nfornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which are idolatry).  On account of\nthese the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. <\/sup> These are the ways you also once followed,\nwhen you were living that life. <\/sup> But now you must get rid of all such things\u201d.\nHe then adds other qualities which should characterize Christian society. They\nshould put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive <\/sup>language from their mouth, and many others\nbesides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The Church in Ireland is now\nat a turning point. There have been the clerical, and other, sex scandals, and\nindependent of this a falling away from Church attendance, not necessarily a\nlack of faith. There is also a growing, and vocal, secularism and\nanti-clericalism. Believers need to put faith in the Risen Christ, as presented\nin today\u2019s reading from Colossians, at the very centre of their religion. Presence\nat Easter ceremonies could be a call and a reminder from Christ that all who\nbelieve in him are his witnesses, witnesses to his passion and resurrection. <\/strong> We can compare the present\nsituation in Ireland\n(and also elsewhere) somewhat to that of the disciples during and after the\nterrible events of the Passion and death of Jesus. The hopes expressed in him\non the entry over the Mount of Olives seemed\ndashed. In his hour of trouble his disciples had abandoned him; Peter had even\ndenied him three times. The situation changed with the resurrection belief, and\nthe words of Jesus that his death was really a victory. Believers in him could\ntake courage. Through his death and resurrection Christ had conquered \u201cthe\nworld\u201d, that is all forces trying to take believers away from him. And his\nfollowers would be witnesses to this new age. As Jesus said (John 15:26-27):\n\u201cWhen the Advocate (Paraclete, Comforter) comes, whom I send to you from the\nFather, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, will bear witness to me;\nand you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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