Easter Sunday

Reflection

This is my favorite Easter story, which I never mind retelling: “A journalist who wrote about the bombing of London during the Second World War said that the picture which remained most vividly impressed on his mind came early one morning. He was out looking around after a night of heavy bombing. He came to a small house. Its windows had been blown out by bomb blast, the torn curtains were fluttering in the breeze; the tiny front garden was littered with roof tiles. At the door was a young woman with a baby in her arms. She stood there with all the devastation around her. The journalist stopped at the gate. ‘A terrible night,’ he said. ‘Yes, but what a wonderful morning,’ was her magnificent reply.”

“Easter is the wonderful morning after the terrible night of the cross.” (Experiencing Jesus, Gerald O’Collins, S.J., p. 108)

 

A key theme of the Easter Season is joy, joy even in the midst of devastation. Easter is “the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!” We rejoice that Jesus can now say, “Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever,” and we rejoice that we can share in Jesus’s victory over death and confidently look forward to life and happiness without end, after our own earthly death.

 

So, rejoice! Christ is alive and well, and He is with us!

 

Prayer

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your victory over sin and death, and making it possible for us to share in Your triumph. Alleluia!

 

Fr. Raymond Doherty, S.S.E. ‘51, Campus Minister

 

Scripture

First Reading: Acts 10:34a, 37-43

Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23

Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8

Gospel: John 20:1-9 or Luke 24:1-12 or Luke 24:13-35

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website