Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord

Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord Acts 10:34a, 37-43/Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8/Jn 20:1-9 (42) or Mt 28:1-10 (41) or, at an afternoon or evening Mass, Lk 24:13-35 (46) Pss Prop.

*The Empty Tomb

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Jn 20:1-9

**The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection – by Burnand.

This artwork (see below) by E. Burnand shows the young apostle, John, and the older apostle, Peter, running to the tomb of Jesus on Easter morning after hearing the women’s report of the empty tomb.

***Resurrection of Christ – by Caravaggio

Jesus gloriously rises from the dead, holding the banner of victory, while His guards scatter in terror and an angel appears, opening the door of the tomb (see below). Artwork

****The resurrection of Jesus (Biblical Greek: ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lord. According to the New Testament writings he was firstborn from the dead, ushering in the Kingdom of God. He appeared to his disciples, calling the apostles to the Great Commission of proclaiming the Gospel of eternal salvation through his death and resurrection, and ascended to Heaven. For the Christian tradition, the bodily resurrection was the restoration to life of a transformed body powered by spirit, as described by Paul and the Gospel authors, that led to the establishment of Christianity. For Christians, his resurrection is the guarantee that all the Christian dead will be resurrected at Christ’s parousia (second coming).

In Christian theology, the death and resurrection of Jesus are the most important events, the foundation of the Christian faith, as commemorated by Easter.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.  

Jn 14:18-21