EASTER SUNDAY  –   2018

 Today is the great celebration of Easter. The liturgy overflows with alleluias, readings of life and resurrection, songs, hymns that invite us to rejoice, to experience the joy of the Lord. ALLELUIA, JESUS THE LORD IS RISEN!!!!  

During the Easter season all the readings are from the New Testament.    

 FIRST READING – Acts  10: 34a- 37-43

«  The reading is taken from the speech of Peter at Cornelius home.  

«  At the beginning of chapter 10 we are told that Cornelius was the centurion of the Italic cohort of the Roman troops stationed at Caesarea.   

«  Caesarea is a city mentioned several times in the Acts, it is a different city than Caesarea of Philippi where Peter made his profession of faith in Christ. The Caesarea mentioned in Acts is located on the Palestinian coast on the road that leads to Tire and Egypt.   

«  This was a key moment in the development of the Christian faith of the little community of disciples that are faced with diverse situations, which will help them to deepen and discover the true newness of the faith in Christ, the crucified and risen Teacher.  The baptism of Cornelius by Peter is the beginning of the admission of the non-Jewish peoples into the new born community of disciples.    

«   Luis Alonso Shoēkel makes a very interesting reflection on this 

o   He calls it the conversion not of Cornelius, but of Peter.    

o   Cornelius is open to the good news, to the Gospel and does not put any resistance; on the contrary he wants to know it.   

o   Peter, on his part, is struggling and searching for answers to the ongoing problem: what to do with the gentiles who want to be part of the new community of Jesus?   

o   Luke who is the author of Acts presents the two characters Cornelius and Peter praying.   

o   Cornelius is a Roman soldier, a pagan, but a man of prayer, compassionate toward the poor; we can say he was a good man.   

o   Peter is also praying, but, through his dream we discover the content of his prayer: what to do in the situation in which they find themselves.    

o   Jesus intervenes moving the threads of history. At the same hour 2 pm. both characters have a dream. Cornelius is told to call Peter and Peter is told to go to Cornelius home.  

«  Now  let us examine what Peter preaches  

o   He begins by remembering all that had happened in Judea since the baptism of John.   

o   Everything related to Jesus of Nazareth who was filled with the Spirit,  and who went about doing good.  

o   Peter and the rest of the apostles are witnesses of what he is proclaiming to them; nobody has told this to him. They have seen Jesus, they have heard him, and they have experienced his presence. Jesus is not an imagination, or a dream.  

o   Jesus was hung on a tree, but God raised him and after his resurrection he appeared to some witnesses chosen by the Father

o   These witnesses have the mission to preach and to testify about who is Jesus.   

«  What a wonderful synthesis which Peter  does of our Christian faith.  

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  – Ps.  118 

The Lord has done and continues to do wonderful things every day, but Easter is a very especial day, the day of days, the day of the new creation, the “eighth day”, the day of Jesus triumph over death, the day in which the doors of heaven are reopened, offering the possibility to enter into the intimacy of our God.   

THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD.

¡Alelluia!

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good   

For his mercy endures forever  

Let  the house of Israel say   

His mercy endures forever!   

THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD.

The right hand of the Lord has struck with power     

The right hand of the Lord is exalted   

I shall not die but live    

And declare the works of the Lord.     

THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD.

The stone which the builders rejected   

Has become the cornerstone    

By the Lord has this been done      

It is wonderful in our eyes. 

THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD.

SECOND READING   Col  3,1-4

Ø  The scholars do not agree about who is the author of this letter. There are reasons to say that the author is Paul, but also there are reasons to say that it was one of Paul’s disciples.    

Ø  If the author is Paul the letter was written in Ephesus at the end of the 50’s. If the author is one of Paul’s disciples then the date would be around the year 80.    

Ø  But let  us leave aside this discussion and enter into the message which this fragment of the letter gives to us.    

o   It is an invitation to live according to one who is raised with Christ. One who has been submerged in the death of Christ and in his resurrection.    

o   Our life is a new life guided by the values of Christ.    

o   This invitation to a new life is a logical consequence of having died with Christ and having been submerged in his new life.  

o   Christ is with his Father and he has taken us with him, in another place we are told that we are the body of Christ, thus where Jesus is we will also be if we remain in him.   

o   Christ is also in this world, as a consequence of his incarnation he cannot renounce to be one of us, even being glorified in the Father. And Jesus has come so that everything may be new.   

o   Thus those who are in him, we are called to have our feet firmly on this earth, in this world, in this society in order to transform it with our commitment and testimony.  

PASCHAL SEQUENCE –

The Paschal sequence is a very ancient and beautiful prayer that sings the resurrection of the Lord.   
We sing it before the Gospel  on Easter Sunday

Christians, to the Paschal Victim Offer your thankful praises! A Lamb the sheep redeems; Christ, who only is sinless, Reconciles sinners to the Father. Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous: The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.

Speak, Mary, declaring What you saw, wayfaring. “The tomb of Christ, who is living, The glory of Jesus’ resurrection; bright angels attesting, The shroud and napkin resting. Yes, Christ my hope is arisen; to Galilee he goes before you.” Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining. Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning! Amen. Alleluia.

Jesus is that victim, he is the offering made to the Father. The most beautiful offering which humankind has offered to the Father, the most beautiful fruit of the human race.  And Jesus is also and above all the most beautiful gift which the Father has given us.   

Jesus is the bridge between God and the human race; he is the only one who could do this union, this reconciliation, because he is human and divine at the same time.   In his body he unites us to the Father and seals with his blood the new and eternal covenant.   

Yes, death and life contended especially on the cross.  What a paradox, what an irony, we want to live no matter what. We invent all sorts of medicines and procedures to appear always young even in old age. We always feel that it is too soon for the Lord to call us, even being in our 90’s.    However when the true life, the life with capital “L” appears among us we eliminate it, because it is too dangerous, we do not trust. But life cannot be destroyed; it comes back again and again. Just look at nature.     

Mary tell us who have you seen in the morning?  Who has appear to you, has called you by name, because you could not recognize him now that he is risen unless he pronounced you name.   

I have seen the Lord; I have seen the one who is my joy, my all. I have seen Jesus alive again, but I could not recognize him until he called me by name.   The name he pronounced when he called you to live.  Lord call us  by name anew  as you did when you created us, as you did when you called us to follow you.    Call us a new so that we may recognize your voice in the midst of our worries, our failures, our joys and our successes.  Let us also abandon the tomb of our discouragements and pessimisms and let us see your presence in the present time, in the same way that you could discover the presence of the Father on that cross.    

Yes the Lord is risen, he is alive, he is among us because since the moment of his incarnation when he took our human nature he has become one of us and he cannot stop being so. Thank you Lord.  

Go to Galilee where everything started, where we met for the first time, where we became exited with Jesus’ project, the Kingdom, the Project to transform this world into the Kingdom of God, where God can be King and Lord of all.    Let  us go, let  us go back to our own Galilee, where we feel at home with him, let  us live again our first call, when we fell in love, when as, all those who fall in love, we saw nothing else than Jesus. We did not think about the difficulties, the oppositions, our only thoughts were his kingdom and Jesus himself.   Through the years he has given us more than enough proofs of his love, his care his listening to us.    

Jesus has conquered death for him and for us. We will rise on the last day, which last day? The Lord knows, we are sure of it because he is always faithful to his promises.  

Thank you Jesus, thank you for having been able to suffer all that you suffered  for our love, for my love. Grant us to be more aware every day of you unconditional love. Alleluia!!!   

GOSPEL MARK 16,1-7

      The first day of the week, these words remind us of the first day of creation; with Jesus resurrection, the new creation has begun.  

      Three women, Mark mentions the name of two of them. They were looking from afar to see where they had put him.   (15,47)

      They go to anoint Him, because on Friday they could not do it since the day of rest was about to begin.   

      They worry because the stone was very large. But on arriving they find it rolled back, and an angel who gave them a message from Jesus. 

      Go to Galilee.   Shoēkel says: they should abandon their dreams about Judaism and go to Galilee to begin from there the universal mission. 

      In Galilee is where Jesus began his mission, in Galilee Jesus encountered them and invited them to join  Him. 

      Galilee is the place of the first encounter, full of memories of them with the Teacher. They have to go back to this first experience, to this first call, to this first love, before beginning  the great mission of proclaiming to the whole world, to the whole Roman Empire that JESUS IS LORD, that JESUS HAS DIED FOR OUR SALVATION       and that WE ARE ALL HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS and also among us.  

ALLELUIA LET US SING WITH JOY THAT JESUS IS LORD.  

 CLARETIAN CORNER  

Blessed be our Lord Jesus Christ forever! He is pleased to send consolation in times of the greatest need of them!     The love to your most holy will makes me surrender to any sacrifice.   O, who could cry out to the whole world proclaiming how faithful you are to your friends!   Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters

Jesus, I love you with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength.      I would like to love you more and that all love you too.   I would like to love You for me and for all your creatures.   Lord, as the water is mixed with the wine in the Eucharist, I want to be united with You and offer myself with you to the Most Holy Trinity.       St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 CLARET, Antonio María. Oraciones que se encuentran en sus escritos.

PAGOLA, José Antonio. El Camino abierto por JESUS, Juan 4.

 PARIS, María Antonia. Oraciones que se encuentran en sus escritos.

SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso. Comentarios en la BIBLIA DE NUESTRO PUEBLO. Ediciones Mensajero. China 2010.