Reading 1
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.”
Gospel
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.
Reflection
On this Blessed Easter Sunday, we behold the empty tomb and celebrate how Jesus Christ entered death and conquered it. This tremendous victory shows that no sin, evil, corruption, or death could ever usurp the eternal life and love that the Lord is and offers.
Given the glory of this day, the Gospel reading almost seems anticlimactic. Peter and “the disciple whom Jesus loved” inspect the empty tomb, and the beloved disciple believes. Yet, today’s reading concludes by saying that Peter and the other disciple did not yet understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead. Where is the joy of the Resurrection?
We rejoice in a way that the disciples did not because we have a privilege today that they did not have. We have received the gifts of tradition and teaching, and we know how all the Scriptures and Jesus’ life on earth coalesce into God’s perfect triumph. We walked with Jesus during Holy Week, and all the while we knew that we would soon be celebrating His Resurrection. The disciples may not have known that Jesus must rise, but we do.
So, this Gospel’s strange ending spurs us to contemplate how God has been reaching out to save mankind from the moment we fell away, culminating in Jesus’ Death and Resurrection. We then go forth, proclaiming this Good News that we are so blessed to know.
In the first reading, we see Peter, after encountering the Risen Lord and receiving the Holy Spirit, finally understanding and preaching how Jesus is the anointed One of God, witnessed by the prophets. We who encounter the Risen Lord at every Mass get to embrace Peter’s message today—without delay. Let us believe in Our Savior, receive His forgiveness, and celebrate His victory.
Please be assured of my prayers for you before Our Lord, present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
+ Bishop Schlert
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