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Commentary

Sunday, 4/21/2019, Easter Sunday

He Is Risen, Let Us Give Praise and Glory

Christ Gave Us the Priesthood

First Reading Commentary: Acts 10:34a, 37-43

In Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter was speaking to the house of Cornelius when he proclaimed that the disciples were chosen by God in advance. Peter said that they ate and drank with Christ after His Resurrection and were witnesses to what Christ said and did. St. Peter also said that the disciples were commissioned by Christ to preach and testify that He is the appointed one by God as judge of the living and the dead and that all of the prophets bear witness and that believers will receive forgiveness of sins through the name of Christ.

In his message, St. Peter validated the priesthood and pointed out that the disciples were the first priests and bishops (Apostles) of the Church, ordained by Christ. All priests in the Catholic Church become direct descendants of the first priests through the Sacrament of Holy Orders when they are ordained. At the Last Supper, Christ bestowed on the priesthood, the authority to consecrate bread and wine. This is why only a priest can consecrate bread and wine into the Living Body and Blood of Christ (the Eucharist) and therefore, only a priest can be the main celebrant at the Mass.

When St. Peter tells us, that believers receive forgiveness of sins through the name of Jesus, he is referring to the Sacrament of Confession. Christ gave the authority to absolve sins, first to Peter in Matthew 16:19 and then after His Resurrection, to all of the disciples, except for Thomas who was not present, when He said, "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." John 20:23 

After a person makes their confession and makes a good act of contrition, the priest will say, “I absolve you of your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.”

If the confession is sincere and honest, the grace of the sacrament will flow. Not because the priest is forgiving the sin but because Christ is forgiving the sin through the priest. The priest is an intermediary. His ears are the physical ears for us that Christ uses to hear the confession. The priest’s mouth is the physical mouth for us that Christ uses to forgive us of our sins. The authority to absolve sins is something which Christ gave specifically to the disciples and therefore, the priesthood, and no one else. That is why only a priest can hear confessions.

Christ gave us the priesthood so that He could fulfill His promise of being with us always in a physical way. Christ is with us in the Eucharist and together with the Father and the Spirit; He is with us in Confession. Without the priesthood, no one could ever receive the grace that comes with the sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession and Christ could not keep the promise that He made at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, “Behold, I am with you always.”

Set Priorities Straight

Second Reading Commentary Colossians: 3:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8

There is a choice for today’s second reading. The first choice comes from the letter of St. Paul to the Colossians. The second comes from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. Both letters bear the same message.

St. Paul is telling us to set our priorities straight. In Colossians, he tells us to seek what is above and not what is on earth. He tells us that we have died and that Christ is our life and that when He appears, we will appear with Him in glory. Paul is giving us the same message that he gave us in last night’s Epistle—Romans 6:3-11—that in Baptism, we are dead to sin but alive in Christ.

In first Corinthians, St. Paul tells us to get rid of the old yeast which is the yeast of malice and wickedness. He tells us that our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed and that we should celebrate the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

In both readings, St. Paul is telling us to make Christ number one in our lives because when Christ gave His human life for us, our sins died with Him. But in order to stay away from sin, we must stay with Christ—He must be priority number one.

Don’t Worry About the How

Gospel Commentary: John 20:1-9

In today’s gospel of the Resurrection according to John, we learn that Peter was not alone when he ran to the tomb of Jesus. There was another disciple with him. John does not refer to himself by name in his Gospel and it is believed that John was the other disciple who ran to the tomb with Peter.

John tells us that Peter and the other disciple did not understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. We also know from the other gospels that all of the disciples were afraid but that is another discussion. The word, “understand”, is what I want to focus on in this commentary.

Peter and John knew the Scripture but did not understand it. There are several Scriptures that point to the Resurrection. One of them is Hosea 6:2 which says, “He will revive us after two days; on the third day, he will raise us up, to live in his presence.”

Put yourself in the place of Peter and John. Hosea’s prophecy does not point directly at Christ which might account for their not understanding. But think about it. Christ did promise the Kingdom of Heaven and Christ did tell the disciples that He was going to prepare a place in His Father’s house. In order to accomplish that, the sins of the world had to be nailed to the cross and Christ had to defeat death with His Resurrection. Peter, John and the other disciples had not made that connection.

But what is really important here is that, Christ told the disciples that He would rise on the third day. They believed in Jesus so, they knew what happened. They saw Jesus perform many great works and they knew that Jesus always did what He said that He was going to do and did not break promises. But this was something which was new and overwhelming for them. The idea that someone could raise up from the dead under their own power was something that they had never seen before. They had to see the empty tomb to believe that it really did happen.

Have you ever been a witness to something happening, which you knew was going to happen before it did, but not be able to understand how it happened? We all have had such experiences in life. In fact, we do every day but most of us make no big deal of it or even pay attention to it. Some of us fail to even make the connection.

We live in and are a part of nature. We know what happens in nature and we can often times tell when something is going to happen before it does. In fact, we are getting better at making weather predictions thanks to advancements in technology. But we do not understand how certain things happen. Science has been trying to answer the question of “how” on many things for centuries and every time they come up with an answer to something, science is left with another question of “how.” That is because everything that exists is the result of an act of God and our human minds will never be able to understand the Almighty.

On this day that we celebrate the Glorious Resurrection of Christ, let us not trouble ourselves with how He did it. Let’s just put our faith in Christ and give Him all praise and glory because He did. And, don’t forget to say, “Thank You” because there would be no heaven for us if Christ had changed His mind. Amen.

Reading 1          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.”

Responsorial Psalm          Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23

R/ (24) This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. or: R/ Alleluia.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say, “His mercy endures forever.”
R/ This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. or: R/ Alleluia.

“The right hand of the LORD has struck with power; the right hand of the LORD is exalted.
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.”
R/ This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. or: R/ Alleluia.


The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.
R/ This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. or: R/ Alleluia.

Reading 2          Colossians 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.

or          1 Corinthians 5:6b-8

Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?
Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened.
For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Sequence - victimæ paschali laudes

Christians, to the Paschal Victim Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems; Christ, who only is sinless, Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous: The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living, The glory of Jesus’ resurrection; bright angels attesting, The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen; to Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia.

Gospel          John 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.

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The Descent of the Holy Spirit
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Paragraph 767 "When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he might continually sanctify the Church."174 Then "the Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among the nations, through preaching, was begun."175 As the "convocation" of all men for salvation, the Church in her very nature is missionary, sent by Christ to all the nations to make disciples of them.176

The Holy Spirit came to Mary and the Apostles as tongues of fire.

St. Peter validated the priesthood pointing out that he and the other Apostles, who were witnesses to Christ, were ordained by Christ.

St. Paul tells us to keep our priorities in order by making Christ number one in our lives.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed; Let us then feast with joy in the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Peter and the other disciple (John) ran to the tomb of Jesus after Mary of Magdala told Peter that they had taken Jesus.

The Resurrection
When Peter arrived he entered the tomb. There he saw that the linens that Jesus' was wrapped in were on the floor but that the cloth that had covered Jesus' face was folded neatly and placed somewhere separate from the other linens.

Never mind how. Just believe and be thankful because He did.

In you, Holy Cross, we see God who loves even to the end, and we see the hatred of those who want to dominate, that hatred which blinds the minds and hearts of those who prefer darkness to light. O Cross of Christ, Arc of Noah that saved humanity from the flood of sin, save us from evil and from the Evil One. O Throne of David and seal of the divine and eternal Covenant, awaken us from the seduction of vanity! O cry of love, inspire in us a desire for God, for goodness and for light.—from the book The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis by Diane M. Houdek

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