Easter Sunday

My dear parishioners,

God is Good!!!  All the time!!!  And all the time!!!  God is Good!!!

In this reading, Luke’s second book reaches a dramatic point. For the first time, the Gospel is proclaimed to a gentile audience. Without God’s initiative in this matter, it is likely the apostles would have continued to preach the Gospel only to those belonging to the Jewish tradition. God must prime Peter to take this step by three times presenting him with a vision inviting the apostle to broaden his understanding of things (Acts 10:9–16). The apostle must recognize that the presumed boundary he accepted between what is clean and unclean does not apply when it comes to preaching the Gospel. Thus, once again in Acts, the Church through God’s initiative goes beyond thresholds it might never have crossed otherwise.

The early Christians expressed their faith in the resurrection of Jesus by telling two kinds of stories. The first kind emphasizes Jesus appearing to his disciples and others after he had been raised from the dead. The second kind are stories about the tomb of Jesus being empty. These stories are not attempting to prove that Jesus had been raised from the dead; they expressed what those first Christians believed happened to Jesus when he was raised from the dead.

Mary Magdala came to the tomb. In this empty tomb story, Mary Magdala goes to the tomb of Jesus and immediately discovers that the big stone covering the entrance to the tomb has been removed. She neither enters the tomb nor even looks inside. Instead, she immediately runs to Simon Peter and the Beloved Disciple, telling them what she has concluded from her brief experience: She is convinced that someone has stolen the body of Jesus. She arrived at this conclusion without entering the tomb or even peering in.

Peter and the Beloved Disciple run to the tomb. Both Peter and the Beloved Disciple run to the tomb, based on the information Mary Magdala has given them. A point is made that the Beloved Disciple arrives at the tomb first. This disciple has become the favorite in John’s Gospel even though the special status of Peter is still respected. The Beloved Disciple does not enter the tomb but instead waits for Peter to arrive. He enters the tomb and sees that indeed it is empty; the burial cloths are still there with the head covering in a separate place. There is no response at all from Peter.

The Beloved Disciple sees and believes. After Peter has gone into the tomb and seen what was and was not there, the Beloved Disciple enters. He sees and believes. Obviously, this means that he saw exactly what Peter had seen. But whereas Peter offered no response at all, the Beloved Disciple responds with faith. He believes. The Beloved Disciple is a model in John’s Gospel for what a faithful disciple should be. Although he does not replace the role of Peter among the disciples, he exceeds Peter in faith. The Gospel indicates that at this point the meaning of the resurrection is not clear. That is yet to come.

Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Aloysius