Thank you Deacon Vincent for your Reflections for Easter - Year C
1st Reading from St. Paul to the Romans 6: 3-11.
This letter to the Romans is one of the longest and most influential of his letters but it is exceptionally difficult for us, to be able to draw what God is saying to us today. This particular passage follows Paul’s comparison of Christ’s success, compared to Adam’s failure. It focuses on our baptism and how through our baptism we die with Christ and sin, following Christ’s death which destroyed our slavery to sin, and rise with him from death to life and away from sin. Paul asserts the absolute centrality of Jesus, and the Resurrection from death to life. He is contrasting, in this chapter the movement from sin and death to life and resurrection, expressing in another the contrast between what Adam did and what Jesus did in the previous chapter. Paul is emphasising exactly what Jesus did for us at this Festival of His Death and Resurrection. Jesus has enabled the gates of heaven to be thrown open for all of those who wish to join him in giving due honour and glory to the Father. The choice is ours; he is hoping we will join him. How can we refuse?
Psalm 117: 1-2, 16-17, 22-23.
A song celebrating God in the Temple. It is a summary of how Israel understands their relationship with God, and God’s relationship with all humanity.
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 24: 1-12.
Luke uses part of Mark’s account of the women coming to the tomb, but he omits the conversation about moving the stone away from the opening, they find the tomb already open, but no dead body, then they encounter two men who are clearly angels, who rebuke them for looking for Jesus in the wrong place. They tell the women that he had already predicted his Resurrection. It has similarities to the Transfiguration. There are no instructions for the disciples, they say nothing for they are afraid. But Luke reports Peter going to the tomb, bending down and peering inside and finding everything as the women had said; Peter marvels at what has happened and the translation then says he went off home or went off on his own.
Peter and the women obviously take time out to ponder this amazing event, and that is not a bad idea for us today, to now take time out to ponder these things. We have been with Jesus in his gift of the Eucharist, and followed him in his crucifixion, and just been astounded by his Resurrection. Now let us absorb what this all means for us today and how we can respond to God’s wonderful gift to us of Jesus and examine our lives from now onwards following in His Footsteps, for he has truly Risen.
Alleluia, Alleluia!!
God Bless you All on this Holy Feast of our Redemption.
Deacon Vincent.
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