“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (JN 3: 14-15)
Our Lord’s life and death, His crucifixion and resurrection, are about our “eternal life”: “so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” And eternal life it about love and living in relationship because there is no real life without love, and there is no love without relationship. Our Lord is God, Who is Love, so He brought to us “eternal life”; His life for ours.
“The Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” (ACTS 4: 31)
We wait for the Holy Spirit, Whose feast we will celebrate at the end of Easter. He came to support the Apostles and help them “to speak the word of God with boldness.” When we are invited to proclaim the Good News and to be His witnesses, we can ask the Holy Spirit, in a very special way, to help us to fulfill our mission. He always helps.
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’” (JN 20: 22-23)
Divine Mercy Sunday reminds us of His Resurrection and the grace of forgiveness; our sins can be forgiven—Our Lord left with us “the Holy Spirit” and His Divine Mercy. St. Faustina received the mission to remind us of His grace and His constant presence with us, especially in His Divine Mercy. With every one of our confessions, His Divine Mercy is proclaimed and celebrated.
“You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord; blessed are those who have not seen me, but still believe!” (Gospel Acclamation)
“He said to them, ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.’” (MK 16: 15)
“Proclaim the Gospel to every creature”—it could be my family, my spouse or our children; it could be my colleagues or coworkers, my employees or my clients. When we are married, our first responsibility is to the people of the same vocation—to other couples or to those who should be prepared to be married. When we are parents, we can support other parents, single moms or dads, or child care homes for children without parents. There are a lot of places where we can “proclaim the Gospel;” there is no problem where to go; the problem is only—do we want go?
“This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Jesus said to them, ‘Children, have you caught anything to eat?’ They answered him, No.’ So he said to them, ‘Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.’” (JN 21: 5-6)
Today’s words of Our Lord remind us how important it is to do things right: “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” We have alternatives; we can do things in the opposite way, the bad way, but only when we do things right, can we expect right results.
“This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” (LK 24: 46-48)
First “the Christ would suffer,” then “rise from the dead on the third day,” and all of these are for “repentance, for the forgiveness of sins.” In these days we celebrate not only Our Lord’s victory over death but also our new beginning, our new creation and forgiveness of our sins. We “are witnesses of these things.”
“This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.” (LK 24: 30-31)
“With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him”—with this sentence we can see how important the Eucharist became. Every Mass is the best place and moment when we can recognize His presence among us, His love toward us and His sacrifice for us. Our Lord is with us forever.
“This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?’
She thought it was the gardener and said to him, ‘Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.” (JN 20: 15-16)
Our Lord knows our names; He knows where we are, and He is the only answer for all our needs. He wants to be close to us, to share our lives and to lead us to know Him better. He always speaks to us by our names because we are His beloved children.
“This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“My brothers, one can confidently say to you about the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day. But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld nor did his flesh see corruption. God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses.” (ACTS 2: 29-32)
Easter is not only a celebration for us, but also for all our relatives and friends, who have already gone to eternity. “God raised this Jesus,” but also in Him our beloved ones. Easter is a perfect occasion to be very grateful to Our Lord, Who takes care of all of us.
“This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.” (COL 3: 2-3)
How often our daily troubles and difficulties keep us focused on “what is on earth.” Decisions we make based on this are short-sighted and not really problem solving. When we “think of what is above,” we start doing things today, but with the vision of the end. We trust God, we build strong relationship, we manage our time to find time for prayer and relationships, and we listen to Him and follow His example.
“Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed; let us then feast with joy in the Lord.” (Gospel Acclamation)
