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The Catholic Leader, April 21, 2019
www.catholicleader.com.auYour Daily Bread
IN the first reading, St Luke tells about
the church in the months after Jesus’
resurrection.
It was just one community, made up
of a few thousand Jewish believers in
the city of Jerusalem. Luke says the
community was filled with “signs and
wonders.”
The Holy Spirit was acting so
powerfully through the apostles that,
as Peter walked down the street, his
shadow might bring healing to people
with physical and mental disorders.
Astonishing.
Less obvious but equally remarkable
is the way Luke describes the effect
of these miracles.
“Believers in the Lord,” he says,
“great numbers of men and women,
were added to them” (Acts 5:14).
That’s a complicated and somewhat
odd way to put it. I would have ex-
pected Luke to say that “many people
came to believe in the Lord” or “the
number of believers increased.”
Why does he say, “believers in the
Lord were added to them”?
The reason is that this group of Jew-
ish believers, baptised into Jesus, was
so closely connected to Jesus – or,
we could say, Jesus was so closely
connected to them – that “added
to them” and “joined to him” were
alternate ways of expressing the same
reality.
This deep presence of the risen
Jesus in the community of his follow-
ers is also communicated in today’s
other readings.
In the second reading, John de-
scribes a vision of Jesus in heaven.
Divine Mercy Sunday
April 28
First Reading: Acts 5:12-16
Second Reading: Rev 1:9-13, 17-19
Gospel: John 20:19-31
Easter Sunday
April 21
First Reading: Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-4
Gospel: John 20:1-9
Next Sunday’s readings
By Kevin Perrotta
He is dressed as a priest, surrounded
by lampstands.
The lampstands symbolise the com-
munities of Christians to whom John is
writing.
The vision assures them that Jesus is
in their midst.
He keeps the lamps on the lamp-
stands burning, that is, he gives them
his power and peace to face the op-
position they are experiencing.
In the Gospel, Jesus appears to his
disciples on the evening of his resur-
rection.
He breathes his Spirit into them and
authorises them to grant his forgive-
ness to sinners. He will be so present
in them that his forgiveness will come
to people through their words.
Today is designated Divine Mercy
Sunday.
We could also call it “Sunday of Je-
sus’ Presence in the Church.”
Because he is so present, we who
live centuries after his resurrection can
encounter him, receive his forgiveness
and healing, and be strengthened to
meet our difficulties in the power of his
Spirit.
Prayer:
Lord, help me experience your pres-
ence in the church – and in my life.
CNS
Kevin Perrotta
is the editor and an
author of the “Six Weeks With the
Bible” series, teaches part time at Siena
Heights University and leads Holy Land
pilgrimages. He lives in Ann Arbor,
Michigan.
Let’s share together in the Church’s great joy
The is the homily of Pope John Paul
II from the Easter Vigil in 1997.
“Let there be light!” (Genesis 1:3).
DURING the Easter Vigil, the Liturgy
proclaims these words taken from the Book
of Genesis.
They constitute an eloquent theme running through
this wonderful celebration.
At the beginning the “new fire” is blessed, and is
used to light the Paschal candle, which is then carried in
procession to the altar.
The candle enters and moves forward at first in dark-
ness, until the moment when, after the intonation of
the third “Lumen Christi”, light returns in the whole
Basilica.
In this way, an interconnection has been made between
the elements of darkness and light, of death and life.
Against this background the biblical account of crea-
tion is retold. God says: “Let there be light” (Gn 1:3).
This is, in a certain sense, the first step towards life.
On this night there is to take place a singular passing
from death to life, and the rite of light, together with the
words from the Book of Genesis, offer the first procla-
mation of this.
In the Prologue to his Gospel, St John writes of the
Word made flesh: “In him was life, and the life was the
light of men” (1:4).
This holy night therefore becomes an extraordinary
manifestation of that life which is the life of men.
The whole Church takes part in this manifestation and,
in a special way, the catechumens who during this Vigil
receive Baptism.
The Liturgical Readings of this Easter Vigil link
together the two elements of fire and water.
The element of fire, which gives light, and the element
of water, which becomes the matter of the sacrament of
rebirth, namely of Holy Baptism.
“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5).
The passing of the Israelites through the Red Sea, that
is to say their liberation from slavery in Egypt, is a figure
and a sort of anticipation of the Baptism which frees us
from the slavery of sin.
The many different themes which in this Easter Vigil
Liturgy find expression in the Biblical Readings come
together and blend into a single image.
In the most complete manner, it is the Apostle Paul
who presents these truths in his Letter to the Romans,
which has just been read: “Do you not know that all of us
who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised
into his death? We were buried therefore with him by
baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in
newness of life” (6:3-4).
These words lead us to the very heart of the Christian
truth.
Christ’s death, his redeeming death, is the beginning
of the passage to life, revealed in his resurrection. “If we
have died with Christ,” St Paul continues, “we believe
that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ
being raised from the dead will never die again; death no
longer has dominion over him” (Rom 6:8-9).
Carrying the torch of God’s Word in her hands, the
Church which celebrates the Easter Vigil halts as it were
at a final threshold.
She stops with great expectation throughout this night.
At the tomb, we await the event that took place 2000
ago.
The first witnesses of that extraordinary event were the
women of Jerusalem: they came to the place where Jesus
had been buried on Good Friday and found the tomb
empty.
A voice surprised them: “You seek Jesus of Nazareth,
who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the
place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and
Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you
will see him, as he told you” (Mk 16:6-7).
No one saw with his own eyes the Resurrection of
Christ.
The women who had come to the tomb were the first
to learn of the event that had already taken place.
The Church, gathered for the Easter Vigil, listens
anew, in silent expectation, to this testimony and then
manifests her great joy.
We have just heard it proclaimed from the lips of the
deacon: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum . . .”, “I an-
nounce to you tidings of great joy, Alleluia”.
Let us welcome this news with open hearts, let us
share together in the Church’s great joy.
Christ is truly risen. Alleluia.
Let there be light: “
The Church, gathered for the Easter Vigil, listens anew, in
silent expectation, to this testimony and then manifests her great joy.”
Photo: CNS
THE second Sunday of Easter is marked as
Divine Mercy Sunday, a relatively new tradi-
tion proclaimed by St Pope John Paul II in the
year 2000.
The reason for its proclamation came from
his devotion to St Faustina Kowalska.
He laid some of the foundational work for
this in 1980, with a papal encyclical focused
on God’s Mercy entitled “Rich in Mercy”.
As the Norbertine scholar Fr Alfred Mc-
Bride noted, “by linking the revealed truth
about God’s mercy to one of the most solemn
Sundays after Easter itself, he illumined the
fact that the liturgy already proclaimed the
divine mercy.”
“The truth has been embedded for two mil-
lennia in the worship of the Church.”
Divine Mercy Sunday
Monday to Saturday -
Easter Octave
The special Sunday calls Catholics to focus
less time on worrying about or judging the hard-
ened hearts of those around us and more time
showing mercy to the hurt, rejected and afraid.
It is a time, in the joy of the resurrection, for
Catholics to reflect the light of the risen Christ.
SAINTLY LIFE
FEAST DAYS THIS WEEK
Sunday -
Divine Mercy Sunday
Feast of Jesus’ Mercy