Cycle A - Year 1:  

16 April 2017: Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection

(Liturgical Color: White)

Gospel:Please Read John 20:1-9

Jesus our Lord is risen!

In the entire Universal Church, all Masses today will start with the presiding priest joyfully greeting the congregation with this great news: The Lord has risen. Alleluia!

For today is a great day of celebration as we proclaim the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.

Our joy actually starts in the Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday, when the very first Mass of Easter begins with the joyful singing of the Gloria and the triumphant ringing of  bells. 

The evangelist John brings us the Good News on Easter Sunday. The gist of his Gospel narratives:

When Mary of Magdala came to visit the tomb of Jesus early morning on the third day,

she saw the stone cover already removed from the entrance of the tomb, and the tomb empty. Hurriedly she went back to the other disciples and reported what she saw. Simon Peter and John went with Mary again to the empty tomb. They saw  the burial clothes there, and the cloth that covered Jesus' head neatly rolled up in a separate place. They believed that the Lord is risen, even when they did not yet fully understand what is written in the Scriptures that Jesus had to rise from the dead.  

The Resurrection of Jesus is the very cornerstone of our Christian faith. Because if Jesus did not rise to redeem us from sin, the everything we did during the Holy Week, and everything we do now, is going to be meaningless.

in the Catholic faith, Easter Sunday is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. That is why it is called the greatest feast (festum festorum). Our Lord's Resurrection is a concrete and historical event which is the strength and foundation of Christianity. It is a day of celebration, as it represents the fulfillment of our faith as Christians.

From the time of the first apostles to our generation, we too believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed risen. Alleluia! Alleluia! That is in every Eucharistic celebration at Mass we share in Jesus' Paschal Mystery, meaning to say, in His Passion, Death and Resurrection. Because we encounter the risen Christ again in the Holy Eucharist. Thus, Easter invites us to be witnesses to the world that our Lord Jesus Christ is truly risen from the dead.

What is the significance of the Easter event to all of us? Does everything end with the resurrection story?

Certainly not. We do not close the story of Jesus' Resurrection. We continue to re-live this event whenever we do the acts of Jesus, meaning our Lord's acts of kindness, humility, self-sacrifice, and service to others. Because by these Christian acts we continuously perpetuate the Resurrection of Jesus in our lives.

In other words, whenever we do good to others we impart Jesus and we tell them that Jesus is alive today, that  our Lord Jesus is ready to help them and lift them from their sickness, loneliness and weariness, and restore back our dignity as God's children.

So let us pray, that the  power of the Lord's Resurrection transform us into liberated and joyful people through our authentic Christina living, repentant yet full of hope and happiness.

Happy Easter to all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!