Easter is not a moment in time; it is not a day or even a week; it is the beginning of a new and everlasting life which we live here and now and hope to live for all eternity.
watch the video: Fr Vincent's reflections on Easter Sunday
read the reflections:
Easter Morning 2020
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. R/. Amen.
The Grace and Peace of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, be with you all. R/. And with your spirit.
Thank you for joining me for this final video on Holy Week. We have journeyed from the Passion of Palm Sunday, through the self-examining days of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, into the Sacred Triduum, reflecting on the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist, and the Good Friday crucifixion and death of Jesus, to the Easter Vigil celebrating the Resurrection. This morning, we look at Easter as more than a moment, but as an experience to transform our lives.
We offer the Opening Prayer of the Easter Sunday Mass:
Let us pray:
O God, who on this day,
through your Only Begotten Son,
have conquered death
and unlocked for us the path to eternity,
grant we pray, that we who keep
the solemnity of the Lord’s Resurrection
may, through the renewal brought by your Spirit,
rise up in the light of life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Now let us listen to the proclamation of the Easter Sunday Gospel: John 20:1-9
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.
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.
The Gospel of the Lord. R/. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia! Jesus is risen from the dead! Alleluia!
Easter is not an historical event which we remember as if it happened millennia in the past so that it is over and done. Our celebration is meant to be personal – here and now – for me, for you. Jesus IS risen! So, what part of your life needs the grace of the Risen Life of Jesus? Fears of the coronavirus need to be quelled; healing a crushed heart for the death of loved ones; courage to face an uncertain future because of changing economics. Our lives are still fighting darkness, and we each need this Risen Life of Jesus if we are to make it through our current reality.
Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John in the Gospel today help us to see that even those closest to Jesus still had to deal with their own personal struggles: confusion; doubt; despair; disbelief; to allow the beginnings of a new faith. Even though they believed in Jesus, they did not understand what that belief meant for their personal lives.
The Resurrection of Jesus created a new world; everything would be different now. This is what you and I need to grasp, especially this Easter. World events are changing our lives in one not-so-pleasant way! But Jesus wants to change it in a much more powerful and positive way. We must open ourselves to a new reality that cannot be seen, but it can be believed. I can live now with a belief, a confidence, that my future will be what Jesus has promised: a life beyond earthly limits or disappointments, despite the current experiences. He raises me with Him to a joyous life in the Spirit, a joy which no one can take away, a joy which will last for all eternity! Alleluia, Alleluia!
I know that you are all limited to the graces of Spiritual Communion, even on this Easter Sunday, so I invite you to gaze upon the Tabernacle in which is the Body of Christ, and join me in offering the prayer of Spiritual Communion.
My Jesus, I believe that you are present
in the most Blessed Sacrament.
I love You above all things and
I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there,
and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.
I will not be offering daily reflections this week, but I do plan to offer a prayer and reflection video for next Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday. Hopefully, you can make it back. Thank you for watching all of these.
And now, I would like to offer you the Solemn Blessing of Easter:
The Lord be with you. R/. And with your spirit.
May almighty God bless you
through today’s Easter Solemnity
and, in his compassion,
defend you from every assault of sin. R/. Amen.
And may he, who restores you to eternal life
in the Resurrection of his Only Begotten,
endow you with the prize of immortality. R/. Amen.
Now that the days of the Lord’s Passion have drawn to a close,
may you who celebrate the gladness of the Paschal Feast
come with Christ’s help, and exulting in spirit,
to those feasts that are celebrated in eternal joy. R/. Amen.
And may almighty God bless you,
In the Father, and the Son, ✠ and the Holy Spirit.
We go in the peace of Christ, Alleluia, Alleluia!
R/. Thanks be to God, Alleluia, Alleluia!
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