The Lord’s Resurrection from the Dead
Acts 10:3, 37-43; Psalm 117; Colossians. 3:1-4; John 20:1 -10
Read: Peter and the other disciple went near the tomb. They both ran together but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and was the first to get to the tomb. He bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but he did not enter. Then Peter arrived after him, entered the burial chamber, and saw there the linen cloths, and the cloth that had that had been over Christ’s head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of the scripture; that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their colleagues.
Reflect: The last sentence in the final sentence of this extract from the Gospel:” Then the disciples went back to their colleagues” gives the impression that after they saw the signs of our Lord’s Resurrection from the dead, these two disciples went back to their normal routine …. as though nothing had changed. But that was not so ……… the truth is different. It is true that they went back to their normal life with their colleagues, but now they were led by a new light and strengthened by a new hope. These two disciples were now destined to be witnesses of God’s Resurrection. A witness is one who confirms that his life has been changed and that it has been endowed with a new meaning when it becomes enlightened by what happened at Easter. The witness is one who makes his experience of his faith in the living Christ to render sense and to enlighten those moments of happiness and also those moments of difficulty that one experiences.
Pray: The Lord’s right hand “is lifted up, the Lord’s right hand did mighty things! I will not die but live, and I will announce the Lord’s creations” (Psalm 117)
Act: “The other disciple” that is mentioned in the extract from the Gospel could be me and you. In everything we do .. when we buy, sell, talk to one another, share an inheritance, decide to have another child …. let us do everything in light of the Risen Christ with whom “we move from death to life, from sin to grace, from anger to peace” (Archbishop Charles J Scicluna in his homily at the Palm Sunday Mass 28 March 2021).