Tag: death

Monday in the Octave of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge; I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.” O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 28:8-15)

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce the news to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Hurrying away from the tomb and experiencing fear and great joy, the two women run to tell the disciples what they have seen. On their way, Jesus meets them, and the women worship him as he tells them not to be afraid. Jesus then instructs the women to tell his disciples to go to Galilee, where they will see him. As this happens, some of the guards who were at the tomb go into the city and report to the chief priests what has happened, and the chief priests make plans to tell a lie: that the disciples stole Jesus’ body while the guards were sleeping. In Jesus’ first words to the women, we find an example of strength in professing the Gospel: “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers.”

God, as the day progresses and its trials crop up, help me remember the first words of Jesus to the women after his resurrection. “Do not be afraid.” Help me choose to face trials, not overcome with uncertainty and apprehension, but with the omnipotence of the Risen Christ, who lives within me in his words and through the sacraments. Filled with a sense of urgency, the women did as Jesus asked them to do: “Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” Give me the grace, Lord, to go out in the midst of the day to find Christ present, eager to grant me the peace only he can give.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Easter Sunday | The Resurrection of the Lord

From the sequence before the Gospel: “Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining. Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning! Amen. Alleluia.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 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.

As the disciples race to the tomb, John sprints ahead and looks inside, seeing the burial cloths but hesitates to enter. Peter arrives, enters the tomb, and sees immediately that the cloths are arranged carefully, unlike how they would appear if the body were stolen. As John follows Peter in, they both see and believe. And John tells us, “For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” What they find in the empty tomb is part of an answer to Mary’s troubled declaration, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” Their minds still reeling, Mary and the other disciples don’t know what to make of what they have witnessed. It isn’t until later, as Jesus appears to them, that they come to know the unbounded joy of Christ’s paschal mystery that we celebrate at the Easter Mass: “Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!”

God, help me make sense of the unfolding moments of that first Easter morning. I feel between spiritual worlds—more in spirit with Mary and her puzzlement than with the Spirit-confirmed faith of the apostles at Pentecost. “And we don’t know where they put him.” Something in that makes me want to linger, contemplating the mystery of Christ’s presence even in his absence. It’s the same mystery of the bread and wine made into his body and blood. Absent in appearance but truly, actually present. Lord, give me the grace to receive the Eucharist with reverential awe. The risen Christ, victor over sin and death, is freed from the tomb and shows us the path to eternal life. Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil

From the responsorial psalm: “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. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 16:1-7)

On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed. He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.’”

After the sabbath, early on Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome go to the tomb of Jesus to anoint him. As they approach the tomb, they question among themselves how they will remove the stone. When they look up, they see that it has been rolled away. A young man sits at the right side of the tomb who tells them Jesus has been raised, and he sends them with a message, mentioning Peter by name and the disciples. Jesus would meet them in Galilee, as he told them. In the resurrection, saving us from sin and death, Jesus goes ahead of us. And God always keeps his promises. In the Easter vigil Mass, the triumph of light over darkness appears in the risen Christ, the Light of the World.

God, help me fully embrace the passion, death, and resurrection of your Son in understanding it as much as your grace allows so that I can partake in the full Easter joy of receiving the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. By taking him in, I take in his victory over sin and death and am strengthened through him in the hope of the resurrection, which he made possible for all who believe in him. Grant me the grace, Lord, to participate in the mystery of Christ’s resurrection and know the joy it offers for me and for the whole world. Have mercy on us, Lord, and on the whole world. “By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

From the responsorial psalm: “Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your kindness. Take courage and be stouthearted, all you who hope in the LORD. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 18:1—19:42)

After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

Until the moment of his death, Jesus was aware that he was accomplishing his Father’s will. Throughout the days leading up to his passion and through all its brutality, he never lost sight of it and in the last moment knew when he had fulfilled all he was sent to fulfill. What was it Jesus thirsted for? To be sure, as a man, he thirsted as a man thirsts; as Immanuel, he thirsted not for any created thing but for the salvation of all. In saying “It is finished,” the Son announces to the Father in that moment the finality of life but also the beginning of the end of sin and death in his glorious resurrection to come. Jesus’ death on the cross is not an end but for all who believe in him the full flowering of the hope of the resurrection.

God, in contemplating the death of your Only Begotten Son on the cross, I strive to see the profound depth and breadth of its effects, for the sake of the whole world and for my own sake. Help me weigh the small sacrifices I make today against the weight of your crucifixion. There is no comparison, and it could be that all I can do today is stand in wonder of that. Give me the grace to know more deeply the meaning of the crucifixion; teach me through obedience to your will the meaning of suffering as a means of sanctification. A sinner, I am inclined to want to look away from the crucifixion and what it draws me to—Christ your Son—but I can’t look away. Help me understand who it is I behold and what it means.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 7:11-17)

As [Jesus] drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

After Jesus raises the young man from the dead, the crowd’s immediate reaction is terror and awe . “Fear seized them all,” Luke tells us, “and they glorified God, exclaiming, ‘A great prophet has arisen in our midst’ and ‘God has visited his people.'” In this short passage, Jesus says two sentences: “Do not weep” and “Young man, I tell you, arise!” Moved with pity, Jesus seeks immediately to ease the mother’s grief. Raising her son from the dead would seem to serve that purpose instantly. Yet, Jesus first tells her not to weep, which must have been perplexing to hear. Was this Jesus’ way of allowing the mother and the crowd of witnesses a pause from grief, a means to ponder that death does not have the final word?

Father in heaven, help me understand the works that Jesus accomplished on earth emanated through the trinitarian unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The fear the crowd experienced as they witnessed the young man raised from the dead is a holy fear, a fear that caused them to glorify you. Jesus touched the coffin, the thing bearing the young man, and the dead man sat up and began to speak. Like a foretaste, the young man rises just as Jesus would rise. In his death and resurrection, Jesus destroyed death and gives life not to one but to all who believe in him.

From the Gospel acclamation: “A great prophet has arisen in our midst and God has visited his people.” Lord, guide me today and show me the way to glorify you.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.