Readings (Year C):
Acts 10:34a, 37 – 43
Psalm 118:1 – 2, 16 – 17, 22 – 23
Colossians 3:1 – 4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6b – 8
John 20:1 – 9
Reflection: Christ is risen! Indeed, he is risen!
Our Eastern Rite sisters and brothers use that Easter proclamation to greet each other throughout the fifty days of Easter. It is a beautiful example of the Easter faith spilling over from our liturgical celebration and affecting every other area of our lives.
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit and addressing a crowd in the first reading, says, “you know what has happened all over Judea” and proceeds to give what we might today call an “elevator speech” version of the good news of Jesus. He claims authority to do so as a witness, and beyond that, “one who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”
For us here and now, we cannot presume, even in so-called Christian countries, that our hearers will know anything about Jesus, much less his message and his revelation of God’s all-encompassing love and mercy. If we were to greet each other on the street, reminding ourselves of Jesus’ victory over sin and death, we would also need to be prepared to respond to curiosity from those around us. We too should have an “elevator speech” ready at hand. It doesn’t need to quote scripture chapters and verses, but it does have to come from someone who can identify as a table companion of Jesus, close enough to share in his life-giving meal.
Our Easter Triduum began with the celebration of the Lord’s supper on Holy Thursday. We have been reading principally from Luke’s gospel this year, and Jesus spends a lot of time at the table in this gospel. He is criticized for eating and drinking with the wrong kind of people, he and his disciples are criticized for not following all the ritualistic washings prescribed in the law, but it is at the table that Jesus shares his life, his very self. And it is no wonder that the lasting memorial of his presence is in the form of food. He invites those who hear him to be less concerned about their place at the table and to be willing to host those who have no way of paying back in kind. He describes a lavish meal for a son who ran off and wasted his inheritance, and at another meal a woman known as a sinner lavishly washes Jesus’ feet with her tears and dries them with her hair.
As table companions of Jesus, we should be concerned for all those who do not have people with whom to feast, and for those who lack the basic necessities for their table. As Catholics who recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread, we should be eager to welcome people to the feast that God has prepared and to make sure that all feel welcome.
Our gospel today begins with Mary of Magdala who comes upon the empty tomb with the stone rolled away. She has to share this astonishing and confusing news with Peter and John who race each other to the entrance of the tomb. They discover that Jesus, whose painful death they witnessed, could not be contained by the tomb but rose again to new life. No wonder they can’t wait to share that news. In a world of so much loneliness and pain, we should be as eager to share the hope of Jesus’ love that could not be conquered by death.
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