Gospel Reflection Apr 21 – Fr. Morris
Gospel Reflection
April 21, 2019
Sunday, April 21
The Resurrection of the Lord
John 20: 1 – 9
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:
“For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”
The readings and liturgies of the Easter Season welcome us into a deeper understanding of the mystery of Our Lord’s Resurrection. We are blessed to have over two thousand years of prayer, theological reflection, and catechetical elaborations on this central mystery of the Christian faith to aid us in our pursuit.
But perhaps we can best start our Easter season by going back to the earliest years of the Church, when the religious radicalness of the Resurrection was amplified by the fact that the Apostles and other witnesses to it were still alive and known.
The Apostolic Father and disciple of St. John the Evangelist, St. Ignatius of Antioch, advised the Christians at Tralles to grapple with the full historical impact of Christ’s Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection:
“Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly born, and ate and drank. He was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; He was truly crucified, and truly died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. He was also truly raised from the dead, His Father quickening Him, even as after the same manner His Father will so raise up us who believe in Him by Christ Jesus, apart from whom we do not possess the true life.”
On behalf of all the clergy and staff at St Brigid of Kildare Parish, may I wish you and your family a joyous and prayerful Easter season!
Father Morris