April, 2017

Pope's Intention

Young People, That young people may respond generously to their vocations and seriously consider offering themselves to God in the priesthood or consecrated life.

Easter Sunday: The Resurrection of the Lord - Solemnity

Commentary of the day
A homily attributed to Saint John Chrysostom (c.345-407), priest at Antioch then Bishop of Constantinople, Doctor of the Church
Orthodox Paschal Liturgy

"Enter into the joy of your Lord" (Mt 25:23)

Let all who are pious and every lover of God rejoice in the splendor of this feast! Let the wise servants blissfully enter into the joy of their Lord! (Mt 25:23) Let those who have borne the burden of Lent now receive their pay, and those who have toiled since the first hour, let them now receive their due reward (Mt 20:1f). Let any who came after the third hour be grateful to join in the feast, and those who may have come after the sixth, let them not be afraid of being too late, for the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first... yes, he has pity on the last and serves the first; he rewards the one and is generous to the other...

Come, all of you: enter into the joy of your Lord! You the first and you the last… rich and poor… sober and weaklings,… you who have kept the fast and you who have not, rejoice today. The table is richly loaded: come to it, all of you (Mt 22:4). The fatted calf is served: let no one go away hungry. All of you enjoy the banquet of faith; all of you receive the riches of his goodness. Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed for all; let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone from the grave; let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free. He has destroyed death who was gripped by it; he has despoiled Hades who descended into its kingdom...

When Isaiah foresaw all this, he cried out: “The netherworld was put to confusion when it encountered you” (cf 14:9). Hades is full of bitterness…, because it has been destroyed; it is angered because it has been reduced to naught... It seized a body, and lo! it discovered God; it seized earth, and, behold! it encountered heaven; it seized the visible, and was overcome by the Invisible. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? (1Cor 15:55) Christ is risen and life is freed, Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

'I have heard people slandering, and I have rebuked them. And these doers of evil replied in self-defense that they were doing so out of love and care for the person whom they were slandering. I said to them: "Stop that kind of love, otherwise you will be condemning as a liar him who said: 'Him that privily talked against his neighbor, did I drive away.' If you say you love, then pray secretly, and do not mock the man. For this is the kind of love that is acceptable to the Lord."'

St. John Climacus

Regina Coeli

Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia. / For He whom you did merit to bear, alleluia.

Has risen, as he said, alleluia. / Pray for us to God, alleluia.

Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. / For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

Let us pray. O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

We are Lutheran so we are as different from Catholic as day is from night. Polar opposites on so many things of faith. But on this we agree. Christ rose from the dead. Hallelujah Amen.

He is Risen! What beautiful artwork!

Jesus Christ IS RISEN TODAY! Alleuia!

Amen!

Archdiocese of Washington

From Fear to Faith on Easter Morning

Msgr. Charles Pope • April 16, 2017 •

One option for Easter Sunday morning’s Mass is from the Gospel of John (20:1-8). (I have written before on the Matthean Gospel option (here)). Like most of the resurrection accounts, John’s version paints a portrait of a journey that some of the early disciples have to make: out of fear and into faith. It shows the need to experience the resurrection and then come to understand it more deeply. While the Gospel account begins with Mary Magdalene, the focus quickly shifts to St. John; let’s study his journey.

I. Reaction Mode – The text begins by describing everyone as being in reaction mode, quite literally running about in a panic! On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

The text describes the opening moments as “still dark.” John is likely trying to do more than tell us the time of day. The deeper point is that there is still a darkness that envelops everyone’s mind. The darkness makes it difficult for us to see; our fears and sorrows can blind us.

Mary Magdalene sees direct evidence of the resurrection but presumes the worst: that grave robbers have snatched the Lord’s body! It doesn’t even occur to her to remember that Jesus had said that He would rise on the third day and that this was that very third day. She goes immediately into reaction mode instead of reflection mode. Her mind jumps to the worst conclusion; by reacting and failing to reflect, she looks right at the blessing and sees a curse.

We also tend to do this. We look at our life and see only the burdens instead of the blessings.

I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm goes off instead of thinking, “Thank you, Lord, that I can hear; there are many who are deaf. Thank you that I have the strength to rise; there are many who do not.”
Even though the first hour of the day may be hectic: socks are lost, toast is burned, tempers are short, and the children are loud; we ought to be thinking, “Thank you, Lord, for my family; there are many who are lonely.”
We can even be thankful for the taxes we pay because it means we’re employed, for the clothes that fit a little too snugly because it means we have enough to eat, for the heating bill because it means we are warm, for the weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means we have been productive.

Every day millions of things go right and only a handful go wrong. What will we focus on? Will we look right at the signs of our blessings and call them burdens or will we thank the Lord? Do we live lives that are reactive and negative or do we live reflectively, remembering that the Lord says that even our burdens are gifts in strange packages? And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Do we know this, or are we like the disciples on that early morning when it was still dark, looking right at the blessings but drawing only negative conclusions, reacting and failing to reflect?

II. Recovery mode – The text goes on to describe a certain subtle move from reaction to reflection. So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.

Mary Magdalene’s anxiety is contagious. She comes running to the disciples, all out of breath, and says that “they” (whoever “they” are) have taken the Lord (she speaks of Him as a corpse) and “we” (she and the other women who were with her) don’t know where they put Him (again, she speaks of Him as an inanimate corpse). Mary’s panic triggers that same reaction in the disciples. Now they’re all running! The mad dash to the tomb has begun.

Notice, though, that they are hurrying so that they can verify the grave robbery, not the resurrection. Like Mary, they didn’t take the time to reflect and perhaps remember that the Lord had said He would rise on the third day and that this was the third day. Instead, they also panic, rushing forth to try to confirm their worst fears.

But note a subtlety: John runs faster than Peter. Some scholars say it indicates merely that John was the younger man. I would argue, however, that it signals hope. The Holy Spirit, speaking through John, is not likely interested in passing things like youth. Some of the Fathers of the Church see a greater truth at work in the love and mystical tradition that John symbolizes. He was the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” the disciple who knew and experienced that love of God. Love often sees what knowledge and authority can only appreciate and later affirm. Love gets there first.

There is a different verse in Scripture that I believe explains John’s strength (manifested in his speed):

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Is 40:31).

Perhaps John runs faster because he begins to move from reaction to reflection and remembrance. When you run quickly it’s hard to talk, so you tend to recede alone into your thoughts. There is something about love that enlightens, that recalls what the beloved has said. Perhaps John begins to think, to reflect and consider these things:

Didn’t Jesus say He’d rise three days later and isn’t this that day?
Didn’t the Lord deliver Daniel?
Didn’t He deliver Noah from the flood?
Didn’t He deliver Joseph from the hands of his brothers and from the deep dungeon?
Didn’t He deliver Moses and the people from Egypt?
Didn’t He deliver David from Goliath and Saul?
Didn’t He deliver Jonah from the whale?
Didn’t He deliver Queen Esther and the people from wicked men?
Didn’t He deliver Susanna from her false accusers?
Didn’t He deliver Judith from Holofernes?
Didn’t Jesus raise the dead?
Didn’t God promise to deliver the just from all their trials?
As for me, I know that my redeemer liveth!

Something started to happen inside John. I have it on the best of authority that he began to sing this song in his heart as he ran:

“I don’t feel no ways tired. Come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me that the road would be easy but I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me.”

Yes, John is in recovery now. He has moved from reaction to reflection. He is starting to regain his faith.

The text says that John looked in and saw the burial cloths, but waited for Peter. Mystics and lovers may get there first, but the Church has a Magisterium that must be respected, too.

III. Reassessment mode – In life we must often reassess our initial reactions as further evidence comes in. Peter and John must take a fresh look at the evidence from their own perspective. The text says, When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths [lying] there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.

Mary Magdalene’s assessment was that grave robbers must have struck, but the evidence for that seems weak. Grave robbers typically sought the fine linens in which the dead were buried. Yet here are the linens while the body is gone. If they were going to take the body, why not also take the valuable grave linens? The Greek text describes the clothes as κείμενα (keimena)—lying stretched out in place, in order. It is almost as if the clothes simply “deflated” in place when the body they covered disappeared. Finally, the most expensive cloth of all, the σουδάριον (soudarion), lies folded (rolled up, in some translations) in a separate place. Grave robbers would not leave the most valuable things behind. And surely, even if for some strange reason they wanted the body rather than the linens, they would not have bothered to carefully unwrap and fold things, leaving them all stretched out in an orderly way. Robbers work quickly; they snatch things and leave disarray in their wake.

Life is like this: you can’t simply accept the first interpretation of things. Every reporter knows that “in the fog of war” the first reports are often wrong. We have to be careful not to jump to conclusions just because someone else is worried about something. Sometimes we need to take a fresh look at the evidence and interpret it as people of faith and hope, as men and women who know that although God may test us He will not forsake us.

John is now looking at the same evidence that Mary Magdalene did, but his faith and hope give him a different vision. His capacity to move beyond fearful reaction to faithful reflection is changing the picture.

We know little of the reaction of Peter or Mary Magdalene at this point; the focus is on John. And the focus is on you. What do you see in life? Do you see grave robbers, or are you willing to reconsider and move from knee-jerk fear to reflective faith?

Does your resurrection faith make you ready to reassess the bad news you receive and look for blessings, even in crosses?

IV. Resurrection Mode – Somewhat cryptically, the text now focuses on the reaction and mindset of St. John. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

On one level the text says that St. John saw and believed. Does this mean merely that he now believed Mary Magdalene’s story that the body was gone? As is almost always the case with John’s Gospel, there is both a plain meaning and a deeper one. The text says that he ἐπίστευσεν (episteusen); he “believed.” The verb here is in the aorist tense, a tense that generally portrays a situation as simple or undivided, that is, as having a perfective (completed) aspect. In other words, something has come to fruition in him.

Yet the text also seems to qualify, saying, they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. It is as if to say that John came to believe that Jesus had risen but had not yet come to fully understand all the scriptural connections and how this had to be. He only knew in his heart by love and through this evidence that Jesus was risen. Deeper understanding would have to come later.

For our purposes, let us observe that St. John has gone from fear to faith. He has not yet seen Jesus alive, but he believes based on the evidence and on what his own heart and mind tell him.

At this moment John is like us. He has not seen but he believes. Neither have we seen, but we believe. John would see him alive soon enough and so will we!

We may not have an advanced degree in Scripture, but through love we too can know that He lives. Why and how? Because of the same evidence:

The grave clothes of my old life are strewn before me.
I am rising to new life.
I am experiencing greater victory over sin.
Old sins and my old Adam are being put to death.
The life of the new Adam, Christ, is coming alive.
I am being set free and have hope and confidence, new life and new gifts.
I have increasing gratitude, courage, and a deep peace that tells me that everything is all right.
The grave clothes of my old way of life lie stretched out before me and I now wear a new robe of righteousness.
I am not what I want to be but I am not what I used to be.

So we, like John, see. We do not see the risen Lord—not yet anyway, but we see the evidence and we believe.

St. John leaves this scene as a believer. His faith may not be the fully perfected faith that it will become, but he does believe. John has gone from fear to faith, from reaction to reflection, from panic to peace.

Video

Zenit.org

Christ Is Risen, Look for Him Among the Living

Easter Sunday – Resurrection of the Lord – Year A – April 16, 2017

April 14, 2017Francesco FolloSunday Readings

Pope Francis in the airport of Quito' Mariscal Sucre'

CTV - OSSERVATORIO ROMANO

Easter Sunday – Resurrection of the Lord – Year A – April 16, 2017

Act 10, 34a.37-43; Ps 118; Col 3,1-4; Jn 20,1-9

1) Christianity is the religion of the living.

“Of all the days in the year that the Liturgy celebrated in various ways, there is not one that is more important of the feast of Easter because, in the Church of God, this day makes holy all the other solemnities. Also the birth of the Lord is directed towards this mystery: the meaning of the birth of Christ is for Him to be nailed to the cross. In the womb of the Virgin he took mortal flesh; in this mortal flesh the design of passion is realized completely; and so it happened that, for an ineffable plan of God’s mercy, this became for us redeeming sacrifice, abolition of sin and beginning of the resurrection to eternal life “(St. Leo the Great, Sermon XLVIII, 1 – PL 54, 298 A – 299 TO). It was right and proper to prepare ourselves for Easter with the Lent journey (= the exodus) that has made us more aware that we are a people “established by Christ as a communion of life, charity and truth” (Lumen Gentium, 9), and taken by Him as the instrument of salvation for all humanity.

Today begins the Easter exodus so that we can walk “in the world in search of a future and permanent city (see Heb 13, 14), bring to the world “Jesus as the author of salvation and the source of unity and peace”, and establish us “the Church that for each and all may be the visible sacrament of this saving unity”. (Lumen Gentium, 9).

Who guides us on this journey? Christ risen from the dead, a death to which he had been condemned absurdly because he had told the world the truth and loved it.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, guide us using as a pastoral the cross on which he died. Jesus’ dying on the Cross among insults and ill-treatment suffered by him until his death, has been a dying for us, poor creatures, taking our place for our benefit. While he was suffering the hatred of men, he took this hatred upon himself removing it from them and welcoming it in his mercy. His death was a death of the love that never dies.

Christ, the Good Shepherd, not only leads his sheep, but takes the lost one on his shoulders and carries it home. If we are clenched to his Body we live, and in communion with his Body we reach the heart of God.

This infinite heart was revealed to us by Christ who, through his resurrection, demonstrates that love is stronger than death, stronger than evil. This is the force by means of which He brings us to himself, holding us tight on his shoulders. United to his love, let’s go with him to the house of Heaven, the abode of Life in love.

In the crucified Christ, human suffering has a meaning, because this suffering does not seek to destroy life, but to those who knows how to accept it, serves to make life more intense and perfect: holy and redeeming.

The cross is not “scandal” for the Jews and “foolishness” for the Greeks of two thousand years ago, but even today for many it is “scandal” and “madness.” But if we contemplate with care and devotion the mystery of Easter, we understand that the “absurd” and “outrageous” act of God has, as a reason, the free, merciful and almighty love of God for men that is entirely and powerfully manifested on the Cross of Christ. In fact, this Cross has two faces: the apparent defeat and the victory, the Crucified and the Risen. In the Cross are revealed all the evil and misery of man who does not hesitate to condemn the innocent Son of God, but are also manifested the depth and effectiveness of God’s forgiveness.

In Christ crucified and risen, love and not hate has the last word. In this total charity and not elsewhere, it is to be found the true reason of the Christian hope, the good news[1] that gives meaning and depth to life and history in spite of the failures. It is a good and happy news that demands conversion not only to a good moral life, but to the religion of true Life.

In this religion, we walk with the Risen Christ who goes from death to life, and we pass from sacrifice to glory, from abnegation to fertility, from renunciation to love, from love to life. There is no other path that leads to happiness, the complete fullness to life. It is the path traced by the Resurrection.

2) Christ is risen, He is not here.

To the holy women who, in the first glow of the day, had gone to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, the angels said: “You are seeking Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen, he is not here.” This words express all the mystery that we celebrate today: Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified, has resurrected.

What does this statement “He has resurrected” means? It does not mean that the Jesus dead on the cross was revived and returned to the life of before such as it happened to the Naim widow’s son and to Lazarus, who were recalled from death to a life which was to end with a final death. The resurrection of Jesus is not an overcoming of physical death that we know even today: a temporary overcome that at some stage ends with a death with no return. Jesus does not live again as a reanimated dead, but by virtue of divine power, above and beyond the area of what is physically and chemically measurable. The power of God does so that the dead-crucified body of Jesus may be made partaker of the divine life: eternal life. A life qualitatively different from that experienced before.

To use more concrete words (at least I hope): the Incarnate Word, passing through death, is introduced with his humanity in the divine Glory which in his divinity He has always enjoyed. On the last evening of his earthly life, Jesus had prayed: “and now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was” (John 17.5). On Easter morning this prayer has been heard.

3) Seek Him in Galilee, namely among the living.

Having told the pious women: “He is not here, he is risen,” the angels add immediately: “Go to Galilee, there you will see him.” What does it mean for us today this indication to go to Galilee? In my opinion, at least for us, “Galilee” is not a geographical place; it is a place of the heart, an existential place.

We must not seek Christ in the graves of the dead, not even among the great men covered with dust by the time we call history, nor in books and utopias. Let us seek him among the living. Let us seek him because Christ is the God of the living flower and not of the dead thoughts.

But you might ask me: “How can we be sure that the living do not deceive us?” In this case I would reply: “Look for him among the living in Christ that is the Church.” Let us seek among those who have the strength and grace to say: “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life – for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us – what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so you also may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete “(1 Jn 1: 1-4).

In the light of the words of St. John, I try to point out some ways to where and how to encounter the Risen Jesus.

The first – I have mentioned it just above – is the Church that becomes concrete experience in the Christian community where the Word enlightens us, the sacraments sanctify us and make us partakers of Christ’s life.

The second is the familiarity with the Bible and, in particular, the Gospel to be understood as the testimony of those who have met Jesus and by the Holy Spirit have communicated their experience in the four Gospels. The Gospel is fundamental: to be read, studied, meditated, prayed, lived with the help of the Holy Spirit and in the Church that, faithful down the centuries to the testimony of the Apostles, presents it in the liturgy and put it in our hands because it is our daily nourishment.

The third way to encounter Christ, dead and risen, are the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist that puts us in communion with the self-giving of Jesus and makes us his Body, and Confession through which we receive the fruit of the redemption that comes from the cross of Christ. Confession renews our life with a heart cleansed and open to the Redeemer and to the neighbor.

The fourth way is to practice the works of material and spiritual mercy that enable us to perceive the presence of Christ in the poor and the needy neighbor. In this regard, let’s remember the parable of the Last Judgment, where Jesus says: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to me “(Mt 25,35-36).

4) Witnesses to the Risen Love.

Every Christian, cultivating in his heart a commitment to abide the love of God, remaining in Him and with one another, is called to be a witness of the resurrection of Christ, especially in those human environments where the forgetfulness of God and man’s confusion are stronger. What is the specificity of the testimony of the consecrated Virgins in the world? The one that it is possible to live only for love to Christ. Giving themselves completely to Christ, they also live a love of obedience to Him, doing His will and living his crucified love. At one point, Christ in order to love went into a progressive experience of self-emptying up to the cross. If we want to love as Christians, we need to know and do like him. This way of loving puts the Other before me, and makes me live by his love of Risen One. Yes, the love of Christ is a resurrected love, a love that always begins again; it is an Easter love. The love of the Christian is as bright as the morning sun. It is a love that bounces back, and does not remain lying. It is full of courage because love is the moving gift of self. The love of Jesus is so and is able to transform sadness into joy, to burn the heart, and to recall to us the Scriptures, like to the two disciples of Emmaus. The virginal love is, in a special way, a resurrected love. Consecrated virginity proves that it is possible to live for God and in His love, and to proclaim by word and deed the resurrection of Christ bearing witness to the communion among us and the charity towards all, without exception.

Patristic Reading

Saint Augustin of Hyppo (354 – 430)

Sermon 121

Mary Magdalene had brought the news to His disciples, Peter and John, that the Lord was taken away from the sepulchre; and they, when they came thither, found only the linen clothes wherewith the body had been shrouded; and what else could they believe but what she had told them, and what she had herself also believed? “Then the disciples went away again unto their own” (home); that is to say, where they were dwelling, and from which they had run to the sepulchre. “But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping.” For while the men returned, the weaker sex was fastened to the place by a stronger affection. And the eyes, which had sought the Lord and had not found Him, had now nothing else to do but weep, deeper in their sorrow that He had been taken away from the sepulchre than that He had been slam on the tree; seeing that in the case even of such a Master, when His living presence was withdrawn from their eyes, His remembrance also had ceased to remain. Such grief, therefore, now kept the woman at the sepulchre. “And as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre.” Why she did so I know not. For she was not ignorant that He whom she sought was no longer there, since she had herself also carried word to the disciples that He had been taken from thence; while they, too, had come to the sepulchre, and had sought the Lord’s body, not merely by looking, but also by entering, and had not found it. What then does it mean, that, as she wept, she stooped down, and looked again into the sepulchre? Was it that her grief was So excessive that she hardly thought she could believe either their eyes or her own? Or was it rather by some divine impulse that her mind led her to look within? For look she did, “and saw two angels in white, sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” Why is it that one was sitting at the head, and the other at the feet? Was it, since those who in Greek are called angel” are in Latin nuntii [in English, news-bearers], that in this way they signified that the gospel of Christ was to be preached from head to foot, from the beginning even to the end? “They say to her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.” The angels forbade her tears: for by such a position what else did they announce, but that which in some way or other was a future joy? For they put the question, “Why weepest thou?” as if they had said, Weep not. But she, supposing they had put the question from ignorance, unfolded the cause of her tears. “Because,” she said, “they have taken away my Lord:” calling her Lord’s inanimate body her Lord, meaning a part for the whole; just as all of us acknowledge that Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, our Lord, who of course is at once both the Word and soul and flesh, was nevertheless crucified and buried, while it was only His flesh that was laid in the sepulchre. “And I know not,” she added, “where they have laid Him.” This was the greater cause of sorrow, because she knew not where to go to mitigate her grief. But the hour had now come when the joy, in some measure announced by the angels, who forbade her tears, was to succeed the weeping.

Lastly, “when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, Sir, If thou hast borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto Him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master.” Let no one speak ill of the woman because she called the gardener, Sir (domine), and Jesus, Master. For there she was asking, here she was recognizing; there she was showing respect to a person of whom she was asking a favor, here she was recalling the Teacher of whom she was learning to discern things human and divine. She called one lord (sir), whose handmaid she was not, in order by him to get at the Lord to whom she belonged. In one sense, therefore, she used the word Lord when she said, “They have taken away my Lord; and in another, when she said, Sir (lord), if thou hast borne Him hence.” For the prophet also called those lords who were mere men, but in a different sense from Him of whom it is written, “The Lord is His name.”1 But how was it that this woman, who had already turned herself back to see Jesus, when she supposed Him to be the gardener, and was actually talking with Him, is said to have again turned herself, in order to say unto Him “Rabboni,” but just because, when she then turned herself in body, she supposed Him to be what He was not, while now, when turned in heart, site recognized Him to be what He was.
“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God.” There are points in these words which we must examine with brevity indeed, but with somewhat more than ordinary attention. For Jesus was giving a lesson in faith to the woman, who had recognized Him as her Master, and called Him so in her reply; and this gardener was sowing in her heart, as in His own garden, the grain of mustard seed. What then is meant by “Touch me not”? And just as if the reason of such a prohibition would be sought, He added, “for I am not yet ascended to my Father.” What does this mean? If, while standing on earth, He is not to be touched, how could He be touched by men when sitting in heaven? For certainly, before He ascended, He presented Himself to the touch of the disciples, when He said, as testified by the evangelist Luke, “Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have;”2 or when He said to Thomas the disciple, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and put forth thy hand, and thrust it into my side.” And who could be so absurd as to affirm that He was willing indeed to be touched by the disciples before He ascended to the Father, but refused it in the case of women till after His ascension? But no one, even had any the will, was to be allowed to run into such folly. For we read that women also, after His resurrection and before His ascension to the Father, touched Jesus, among whom was Mary Magdalene herself; for it is related by Matthew that Jesus met them, and said, “All hail. And they approached, and held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him.”3 This was passed over by John, but declared as the truth by Matthew. It remains, therefore, that some sacred mystery must lie concealed in these words; and whether we discover it or utterly fail to do so, yet we ought to be in no doubt as to its actual existence. Accordingly, either the words, “Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father,” had this meaning, that by this woman the Church of the Gentiles was symbolized, which did not believe on Christ till He had actually ascended to the Father, or that in this way Christ wished Himself to be believed on; in other words, to be touched spiritually, that He and the Father are one. For He has in a manner ascended to the Father, to the inward perception of him who has made such progress in the knowledge of Christ that he acknowledges Him as equal with the Father: in any other way He is not rightly touched, that is to say, in any other way He is not rightly believed on. But Mary might have still so believed as to account Him unequal with the Father, and this certainly is forbidden her by the words, “Touch me not;” that is, Believe not thus on me according to thy present notions; let not your thoughts stretch outwards to what I have been made in thy behalf, without passing beyond to that whereby thou hast thyself been made. For how could it be otherwise than carnally that she still believed on Him whom she was weeping over as a man? “For I am not yet ascended,” He says, “to my Father:” there shalt thou touch me, when thou believest me to be God, in no wise unequal with the Father. “But go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father.” He saith not, Our Father: in one sense, therefore, is He mine, in another sense, yours; by nature mine, by grace yours. “And my God, and your God.” Nor did He say here, Our God: here, therefore, also is He in one sense mine, in another sense yours: my God; under whom I also am as man; your God, between whom and you I am mediator.
“Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and He hath spoken these things unto me. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when He had so said, He showed unto them His hands and His side.” For nails had pierced His hands, a spear had laid open His side: and there the marks of the wounds are preserved for healing the hearts of the doubting. But the shutting of doors presented no obstacle to the matter of His body, wherein Godhead resided. He indeed could enter without their being opened, by whose birth the virginity of His mother remained inviolate, “Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said He unto them again, Peace be unto you.” Reiteration is confirmation; for He Himself gives by the prophet a promised peace upon peace.4 “As the Father hath sent me,” He adds, “even so send I you.” We know the Son to be equal to the Father; but here we recognize the words of the Mediator. For He exhibits Himself as occupying a middle position when He says, He me, and I you. “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” By breathing on them He signified that the Holy Spirit was the Spirit, not of the Father alone, but likewise His own. “Whose so-ever sins,” He continues, “ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever ye retain, they are retained.” The Church’s love, which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, discharges the sins of all who are partakers with itself, but retains the sins of those who have no participation therein. Therefore it is, that after saying “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” He straightway added this regarding the remission and retention of sins.
“But Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. And after eight days, again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God.” He saw and touched the man, and acknowledged the God whom he neither saw nor touched; but by the means of what he saw and touched, he now put far away from him every doubt, and believed the other. “Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed.” He saith not, Thou hast touched me, but, “Thou hast seen me,” because sight is a kind of general sense. For sight is also habitually named in connection with the other four senses: as when we say, Listen, and see how well it sounds; smell it, and see how well it smells; taste it, and see how well it savors; touch it, and see how hot it is. Everywhere has the word, See, made itself heard, although sight, properly speaking, is allowed to belong only to the eyes. Hence here also the Lord Himself says, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands:” and what else does He mean but, Touch and see? And yet he had no eyes in his finger. Whether therefore it was by looking, or also by touching, “Because thou hast seen me,” He says, “thou hast believed.” Although it may be affirmed that the disciple dared not so to touch, when He offered Himself for the purpose; for it is not written, And Thomas touched Him. But whether it was by gazing only, or also by touching that he saw and believed, what follows rather proclaims and commends the faith of the Gentiles: “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” He made use of words in the past tense, as One who, in His predestinating purpose, knew what was future, as if it had already taken place. But the present discourse must be kept from the charge of prolixity: the Lord will give us the opportunity to discourse at another time on the topics that remain.1(Ps 68,4,

2 (Lc 24,39,

3 (Mt 28,9).

4 (Is 26,3, margin.

[1] The word Gospel (in Latin Evangelium) comes from the Greek “euangelion” that means good news.

http://www.theworkofgod.org/Devotns/Euchrist/HolyMass/gospels.asp?key=115

Year A - Easter Sunday

Resurrection of Jesus after three days
John 20:1-9
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.
2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.
4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there,
7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.
8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;
9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. (NRSV)

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus
I had explained to my disciples and apostles that I was destined to suffer and die for the forgiveness of the sins of the world, and that on the third day, I would rise again. I had also told the Jews that if they destroyed this temple I would raise it up in three days, but they did not understand.

It seemed impossible that someone could rise from the dead, but I came proclaiming “I am the resurrection and the life”. To give the whole world a powerful testimony I came back from the dead thereby performing the greatest miracle after my own death.

Those who saw me, believed. Not only did they have a physical confirmation of my resurrection, but their hearts were also open to understand the Holy Scriptures and to strengthen their faith.

By my death and resurrection I accomplished my victory over death, so there is no reason to fear death anymore, since I have proven that I have the power to raise you up after death.

By my death and resurrection I accomplished my victory over sin, since sin is the cause of death. By my grace I overcame sin and its consequences, by forgiving your sins I have given life back to you.

By my death and resurrection I accomplished my victory over Satan. Satan had conquered all human beings and he continues to do so, but my holiness overcame evil, therefore I offer you my holiness to secure your victories against the tempter.

I offer my resurrection and its fruits to you as the greatest reason to increase your faith, believe in me and have everlasting life.

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary

John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 20
1.	AND on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen cometh early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre; and she saw the stone taken away from the sepulchre.	Una autem sabbati, Maria Magdalene venit mane, cum adhuc tenebræ essent, ad monumentum : et vidit lapidem sublatum a monumento.	τη δε μια των σαββατων μαρια η μαγδαληνη ερχεται πρωι σκοτιας ετι ουσης εις το μνημειον και βλεπει τον λιθον ηρμενον εκ του μνημειου
2.	She ran, therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith to them: They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.	Cucurrit ergo, et venit ad Simonem Petrum, et ad alium discipulum, quem amabat Jesus, et dicit illis : Tulerunt Dominum de monumento, et nescimus ubi posuerunt eum.	τρεχει ουν και ερχεται προς σιμωνα πετρον και προς τον αλλον μαθητην ον εφιλει ο ιησους και λεγει αυτοις ηραν τον κυριον εκ του μνημειου και ουκ οιδαμεν που εθηκαν αυτον
3.	Peter therefore went out, and that other disciple, and they came to the sepulchre.	Exiit ergo Petrus, et ille alius discipulus, et venerunt ad monumentum.	εξηλθεν ουν ο πετρος και ο αλλος μαθητης και ηρχοντο εις το μνημειον
4.	And they both ran together, and that other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.	Currebant autem duo simul, et ille alius discipulus præcucurrit citius Petro, et venit primus ad monumentum.	ετρεχον δε οι δυο ομου και ο αλλος μαθητης προεδραμεν ταχιον του πετρου και ηλθεν πρωτος εις το μνημειον
5.	And when he stooped down, he saw the linen cloths lying; but yet he went not in.	Et cum se inclinasset, vidit posita linteamina : non tamen introivit.	και παρακυψας βλεπει κειμενα τα οθονια ου μεντοι εισηλθεν
6.	Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre, and saw the linen cloths lying,	Venit ergo Simon Petrus sequens eum, et introivit in monumentum, et vidit linteamina posita,	ερχεται ουν σιμων πετρος ακολουθων αυτω και εισηλθεν εις το μνημειον και θεωρει τα οθονια κειμενα
7.	And the napkin that had been about his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped up into one place.	et sudarium, quod fuerat super caput ejus, non cum linteaminibus positum, sed separatim involutum in unum locum.	και το σουδαριον ο ην επι της κεφαλης αυτου ου μετα των οθονιων κειμενον αλλα χωρις εντετυλιγμενον εις ενα τοπον
8.	Then that other disciple also went in, who came first to the sepulchre: and he saw, and believed.	Tunc ergo introivit et ille discipulus qui venerat primus ad monumentum : et vidit, et credidit :	τοτε ουν εισηλθεν και ο αλλος μαθητης ο ελθων πρωτος εις το μνημειον και ειδεν και επιστευσεν
9.	For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.	nondum enim sciebant Scripturam, quia oportebat eum a mortuis resurgere.	ουδεπω γαρ ηδεισαν την γραφην οτι δει αυτον εκ νεκρων αναστηναι

1. The first day of the week comes Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, to the sepulcher, and sees the stone taken away from the sepulcher.
2. Then she runs, and comes to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and says to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him.
3. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher.
4. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher.
5. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying: yet went he not in.
6. Then comes Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher, and seeing the linen clothes lie,
7. And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself:
8. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw, and believed.
9. For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

CHRYS. The Sabbath being now over, during which it was unlawful to be there, Mary Magdalene could rest no longer, but came very early in the morning, to seek consolation at the grave: The first day of the week comes Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, to the sepulcher.

AUG. Mary Magdalene, undoubtedly the most fervent in love, of all the women that ministered to our Lord; so that John deservedly mentions her only, and says nothing of the others who were with her, as we know from the other Evangelists.

AUG. Una sabbati is the day which Christians call the Lord's day, after our Lord's resurrection. Matthew calls it prima sabbati.

BEDE. Una sabbati, i.e. one day after the sabbath.

THEOPHYL. Or thus: The Jews called the days of the week sabbath, and the first day, one of the sabbaths, which day is a type of the life to come; for that life will be one day not cut short by any night, since God is the sun there, a sun which never sets. On this day then our Lord rose again, with an incorruptible body, even as we in the life to come shall put on incorruption.

AUG. What Mark says, Very early in the morning, at the rising of the sun, does not contradict John's words, when it was yet dark. At the dawn of day, there are yet remains of darkness, which disappear as the light breaks in. We must not understand Mark's words, Very early in the morning, at the rising of the sun, to mean that the sun was above the horizon, but rather what we ourselves ordinarily mean by the phrase, when we want any thing to be done very early, we say at the rising of the sun, i.e. some time before the sun is risen.

GREG. It is well said, When it was yet dark: Mary was seeking the Creator of all things in the tomb, and because she found Him not, thought He was stolen. Truly it was yet dark when she came to the sepulcher.

And sees the stone taken away from the sepulcher.

AUG. Now took place what Matthew only relates, the earthquake, and rolling away of the stone, and fight of the guards.

CHRYS. Our Lord rose while the stone and seal were still on the sepulcher. But as it was necessary that others should be certified of this, the sepulcher is opened after the resurrection, and so the fact confirmed. This it was which roused Mary. For when she saw the stone taken away, she entered not nor looked in, but ran to the disciples with all the speed of love. But as yet she knew nothing for certain about the resurrection, but thought that His body had been carried off.

GLOSS. And therefore she ran to tell the disciples, that they might seek Him with her, or grieve with her: Then she runs, and comes to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved.

AUG. This is the way in which he usually mentions himself. Jesus loved all, but him in an especial and familiar way. And says to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid Him.

GREG. She puts the part for the whole; she had come only to seek for the body of our Lord, and now she laments that our Lord, the whole of Him, is taken away.

AUG. Some of the Greek copies have, taken away my Lord, which is more expressive of love, and of the feeling of an handmaiden. But only a few have this reading.

CHRYS. The Evangelist does not deprive the woman of this praise, nor leaves out from shame, that they had the news first from her. As soon as they hear it, they hasten to the sepulcher.

GREG. But Peter and John before the others, for they loved most; Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher.

THEOPHYL. But how came they to the sepulcher, while the soldiers were guarding it? an easy question to answer. After our Lord's resurrection and the earthquake, and the appearance of the angel at the sepulcher, the guards withdrew, and told the Pharisees what had happened.

AUG. After saying, came to the sepulcher he goes back and tells us how they came: So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher; meaning himself, but he always speaks of himself, as if he were speaking of another person.

CHRYS. On coming he sees the linen clothes set aside: And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying. But he makes no further search: yet went he not in.

Peter on the other hand, being of a more fervid temper, pursued the search, and examined every thing: Then comes Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher, and sees the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Which circumstances were proof of His resurrection. For had they carried Him away, they would not have stripped Him; nor, if any had stolen Him, would they have taken the trouble to wrap up the napkin, and put it in a place by itself, apart from the linen clothes; but would have taken away the body as it was. John mentioned the myrrh first of all, for this reason, i.e. to show you that He could not have been stolen away. For myrrh would make the linen adhere to the body, and so caused trouble to the thieves, and they would never have been so senseless as to have taken this unnecessary pains about the matter.

After Peter however, John entered: Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw, and believed.

AUG. i.e. That Jesus had risen again, some think: Ah, but what follows contradicts this notion. He saw the sepulcher empty, and believed what the woman had said: For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. If he did not yet know that He must rise again from the dead, he could not believe that He had risen. They had heard as much indeed from our Lord, and very openly, but they were so accustomed to hear parables from Him, that they tool; this for a parable, and thought He meant something else.

GREG. But this account of the Evangelist must not be thought to be without some mystical meaning. By John, the younger of the two, the synagogue; by Peter, the elder, the Gentile Church is represented: for as though the synagogue was before the Gentile Church as regards the worship of God, as regards time the Gentile world was before the synagogue. They ran together, because the Gentile world ran side by side with the synagogue from first to last, in respect of purity and community of life, though a purity and community of understanding they had not.

The synagogue came first to the sepulcher, but entered not: it knew the commandments of the law, and had heard the prophecies of our Lord's incarnation and death, but would not believe in Him who died. Then comes Simon Peter, and entered into the sepulcher: the Gentile Church both knew Jesus Christ as dead man, and believed in Him as living God. The napkin about our Lord's head is not found with the linen clothes, i.e. God, the Head of Christ, and the incomprehensible mysteries of the Godhead are removed from our poor knowledge; His power transcends the nature of the creature. And it is found not only apart, but also wrapped together; because of the linen wrapped together, neither beginning nor end is seen; and the height of the Divine nature had neither beginning nor end. And it is into one place: for where there is division, God is not; and they merit His grace, who do not occasion scandal by dividing themselves into sects.

But as a napkin is what is used in laboring to wipe the sweat of the brow, by the napkin here we may understand the labor of God: which napkin is found apart, because the suffering of our Redeemer is far removed from ours; inasmuch as He suffered innocently, that which we suffer justly; He submitted Himself to death voluntarily, we by necessity. But after Peter entered, John entered too; for at the end of the world even Judea shall be gathered in to the true faith.

THEOPHYL. Or thus: Peter is practical and prompt, John contemplative and intelligent, and learned in divine things. Now the contemplative man is generally beforehand in knowledge and intelligence, but the practical by his fervor and activity gets the advance of the other's perception, and sees first into the divine mystery.

Catena Aurea John 20

The Myrrh-bearing Women at the Sepulchre

The Myrrh-bearing Women

13th century
San Marco, Venice

The disciples Peter and John came running to the tomb on the morning of the Resurrection

Eugène Burnard

1898
Paris, Musée d'Orsay

Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 28
1.	AND in the end of the sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre.	Vespere autem sabbati, quæ lucescit in prima sabbati, venit Maria Magdalene, et altera Maria, videre sepulchrum.	οψε δε σαββατων τη επιφωσκουση εις μιαν σαββατων ηλθεν μαρια η μαγδαληνη και η αλλη μαρια θεωρησαι τον ταφον
2.	And behold there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and coming, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.	Et ecce terræmotus factus est magnus. Angelus enim Domini descendit de cælo : et accedens revolvit lapidem, et sedebat super eum :	και ιδου σεισμος εγενετο μεγας αγγελος γαρ κυριου καταβας εξ ουρανου προσελθων απεκυλισεν τον λιθον απο της θυρας και εκαθητο επανω αυτου
3.	And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow.	erat autem aspectus ejus sicut fulgur : et vestimentum ejus sicut nix.	ην δε η ιδεα αυτου ως αστραπη και το ενδυμα αυτου λευκον ωσει χιων
4.	And for fear of him, the guards were struck with terror, and became as dead men.	Præ timore autem ejus exterriti sunt custodes, et facti sunt velut mortui.	απο δε του φοβου αυτου εσεισθησαν οι τηρουντες και εγενοντο ωσει νεκροι
5.	And the angel answering, said to the women: Fear not you; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.	Respondens autem angelus dixit mulieribus : Nolite timere vos : scio enim, quod Jesum, qui crucifixus est, quæritis.	αποκριθεις δε ο αγγελος ειπεν ταις γυναιξιν μη φοβεισθε υμεις οιδα γαρ οτι ιησουν τον εσταυρωμενον ζητειτε
6.	He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, and see the place where the Lord was laid.	Non est hic : surrexit enim, sicut dixit : venite, et videte locum ubi positus erat Dominus.	ουκ εστιν ωδε ηγερθη γαρ καθως ειπεν δευτε ιδετε τον τοπον οπου εκειτο ο κυριος
7.	And going quickly, tell ye his disciples that he is risen: and behold he will go before you into Galilee; there you shall see him. Lo, I have foretold it to you.	Et cito euntes, dicite discipulis ejus quia surrexit : et ecce præcedit vos in Galilæam : ibi eum videbitis : ecce prædixi vobis.	και ταχυ πορευθεισαι ειπατε τοις μαθηταις αυτου οτι ηγερθη απο των νεκρων και ιδου προαγει υμας εις την γαλιλαιαν εκει αυτον οψεσθε ιδου ειπον υμιν
8.	And they went out quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples.	Et exierunt cito de monumento cum timore et gaudio magno, currentes nuntiare discipulis ejus.	και εξελθουσαι ταχυ απο του μνημειου μετα φοβου και χαρας μεγαλης εδραμον απαγγειλαι τοις μαθηταις αυτου
9.	And behold Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet, and adored him.	Et ecce Jesus occurrit illis, dicens : Avete. Illæ autem accesserunt, et tenuerunt pedes ejus, et adoraverunt eum.	ως δε επορευοντο απαγγειλαι τοις μαθηταις αυτου και ιδου ιησους απηντησεν αυταις λεγων χαιρετε αι δε προσελθουσαι εκρατησαν αυτου τους ποδας και προσεκυνησαν αυτω
10.	Then Jesus said to them: Fear not. Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, there they shall see me.	Tunc ait illis Jesus : Nolite timere : ite, nuntiare fratribus meis ut eant in Galilæam ; ibi me videbunt.	τοτε λεγει αυταις ο ιησους μη φοβεισθε υπαγετε απαγγειλατε τοις αδελφοις μου ινα απελθωσιν εις την γαλιλαιαν και εκει με οψονται

1. In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
2. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5. And the angel answered and said to the women, Fear not you: for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there shall you see him: lo, I have told you.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. After the mocking and scourging, after the mingled draughts of vinegar and gall, the pains of the cross, and the wounds, and finally after death itself and Hades, there rose again from the grave a renewed flesh, there returned from obstruction a hidden life, health chained up in death broke forth, with fresh beauty from its ruin.

AUG. Concerning the hour when the women came to the sepulcher there arises a question not to be overlooked. Matthew here says, On the evening of the Sabbath. What then means that of Mark, Very early in the morning, the first day of the week? Truly Matthew, by naming the first part of the night, to wit, the evening, denotes the whole night in the end of which they come to the sepulcher. But seeing the Sabbath hindered them from doing this before, he designates the whole night by the earliest portion of it in which it became lawful for them to do whatever, during some period of the night, they designed to do.

Thus, On the evening of the sabbath, is just the same as if he had said, On the night of the sabbath, i.e. the night which follows the day of the sabbath, which is sufficiently proved by the words which follow, As it began to dawn towards the first day of the week. This could not be if we understood only the first portion of the night, its beginning, to be conveyed by the word, evening. For the evening or beginning of the night does not begin to dawn towards the first day of the week, but only the night which is concluded by the dawn. And this is the usual mode of speaking in Holy Scripture, to express the whole by a part. By evening therefore he implied the night, in the end of which they came to the sepulcher.

BEDE; Otherwise; It may be understood that they began to come in the evening, but that it was the dawn of the first day of the week when they reached the sepulcher; that is, that they prepared the spices for anointing the Lord's body in the evening, but that they took them to the sepulcher in the morning. This has been so shortly described by Matthew, that it is not quite clear in his account, but the other Evangelists give the order more distinctly. The Lord was buried on the sixth day of the week, and the v omen returning from the sepulcher prepared spices and ointments as long as it was lawful to work; on the sabbath they rested, according to the commandment, as Luke plainly declares; and when the Sabbath was past and the evening was come, and the season of labor returned, with zealous devotion they proceeded to purchase such spices as they yet lacked, (this is implied in Mark's words, when the sabbath was past, that they might go and anoint Jesus, for which purpose they come early in the morning to the sepulcher.

JEROME; Or, otherwise; This apparent discrepancy in the Evangelists as to the times of their visits is no mark of falsehood, as wicked men urge? but shows the sedulous duty and attention of the women, often going and coming, and not enduring to be long absent from the sepulcher of their Lord.

REMIG. It is to he known that Matthew designs to hint to us a mystical meaning, of how great worthiness this most holy night drew from the noble conquest of death, and the Resurrection of Our Lord. With this purpose he says, On the evening of the Sabbath. For whereas according to the wonted succession of the hours of the day, evening does not dawn towards day, but on the contrary darkens towards night, these words show that the Lord shed, by the light of His resurrection joy and brilliance over the whole of this night.

BEDE; For from the beginning of the creation of the world until now, the course of time has followed this arrangement, that the day should go before the night, because man, fallen by sin from the light of paradise, has sunk into the darkness and misery of this world. But now most fitly night goes before day, when, through faith in the resurrection, we are brought back from the darkness of sin and the shadow of death to the light of life, by the bounty of Christ.

CHRYSOLOGUS. Because the sabbath is illuminated, not taken away, by Christ, Who said, I am not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. It is illuminated that it may lighten into the Lord's day, and shine forth in the Church, when it had hitherto burnt dim, and been obscured by the Jews in the Synagogue.

It follows, Came Mary Magadalen, and the other Mary, &c. Late runs woman for pardon, who had run early to Sill; in paradise she had taken up unbelief, from the sepulcher she hastens to take up faith; she now hastens to snatch life from death, who had before snatched death from life. And it is not, They come, but came, (in the singular,) for in mystery and not by accident, the two came under one name. She came, but altered; a woman, changed in life, not in name; in virtue, not in sex.

The women go before the Apostles, bearing to the Lord's sepulcher a type of the Churches; the two Marys, to wit. For Mary is the name of Christ's mother; and one name is twice repeated for two women, because herein is figured the Church coming out of the two nations, the Gentiles and the Jews, and being yet one. Mary came to the sepulcher, as to the womb of the resurrection, that Christ might be the second time born out of the sepulcher of faith, who after the flesh had been born of her womb; and that as a virgin had borne Him into this life present, so a sealed sepulcher might bring Him forth into life eternal. It is proof of Deity to have left a womb virgin after birth, and no less to have come forth in the body from a closed sepulcher.

JEROME; And, behold, there was a great earthquake. Our Lord, Son at once of God and man, according to His twofold nature of Godhead and of flesh, gives a sign one while of His greatness, another while of His lowliness. Thus, though now it was man who was crucified, and man who was buried, yet the things that were done around show the Son of God.

HILARY. The earthquake is the might of the resurrection, when the sting of death being blunted, and its darkness illuminated, there is stirred up a quaking of the powers beneath, as the Lord of the heavenly powers rises again.

CHRYS. Or the earthquake was to rouse and waken the women' who had come to anoint the body; and as all these things were done in the night-time, it was probable that some of them had fallen asleep.

BEDE; The earthquake at the Resurrection, as also at the Crucifixion, signifies that worldly hearts must be first moved to penitence by a health-giving fear through belief in His Passion and Resurrection.

CHRYSOL. If the earth thus quaked when the Lord rose again to the pardon of the Saints, how will it quake when He shall rise again to the punishment of the wicked; As the Prophet speaks, The earth trembled when the Lord rose again to judgment. And how will it endure the Lord's presence, when it was unable to endure the presence of His Angel? And the Angel of the lord descended from heaven. For when Christ arose, death was destroyed, commerce with heaven is restored to things on the earth; and woman, who had of old held communication to death with the Devil, now holds communication to life with the Angel.

HILARY. This is an instance of the mercy of God the Father, to supply the ministry, of heavenly power to the Son on His resurrection from the grave; and he is therefore the proclaimer of this first resurrection, that it may be heralded by some attendant token of the Father's good pleasure.

BEDE; Forasmuch as Christ is both God and man, therefore there lack not amidst the acts of His humanity the ministrations of Angels, due to Him as God. And came and rolled back the stone; not to open the door for the Lord to come forth, but to give evidence to men that He was already come forth. For He who as mortal had power to enter the world through the closed womb of a Virgin, He when become immortal, was able to depart out of the world by rising from a sealed sepulcher.

REMIG. The rolling back of the stone signifies the opening of Christ's sacraments, which were covered by the letter of the Law. For the Law having been written on stones, is here denoted by the stone.

CHRYSOL. He said not 'rolled,' but rolled back; because the rolling to of the stone was a proof of death; the rolling it back asserted the resurrection. The order of things is changed; The Tomb devours death, and not the dead; the house of death becomes the mansion of life; a new law is imposed upon it, it receives a dead, and renders up a living, man. It follows, And sat thereon. He sat down, who was incapable of weariness; but sat as a teacher of the faith, a master of the Resurrection; upon the stone, that the firmness of his seat might assure the steadfastness of the believers; the Angel rested the foundations of the Faith upon that rock, on which Christ was to found His Church. Or, by the stone of the sepulcher may be denoted death, under which we all lay; and by the Angel sitting thereon, is shown that Christ has by His might subdued death.

BEDE; And rightly did the Angel appear standing, who proclaimed the Lord's coming into the world to show that the Lord should come to vanquish the prince of this world. But the Herald of the Resurrection is related to have been seated, to show that now He had overcome him that had the power of death, He had mounted the throne of the everlasting kingdom. He sate upon the stone, now rolled back, wherewith the mouth of the sepulcher had been closed, to teach that He by His might had burst the bonds of the tomb.

AUG. It may disquiet some, how it is that according to Matthew the Angel sat upon the stone after it had been rolled back from the sepulcher, whereas Mark says that the women having gone into the sepulcher, saw a young man sitting on the right hand. Either we may suppose that they saw two, and that Matthew has not mentioned him whom they saw within, nor Mark him whom they saw without the sepulcher; but that they heard from each severally what the Angels said concerning Jesus. Or the words, entering into the sepulcher, may mean entering into some enclosed place, which probably there might be in front of the rock out of which the sepulcher was hewn; and thus it might be the same Angel whom they saw sitting on the right hand, whom Matthew describes as sitting on the stone which he had rolled . back.

CHRYSOL. The splendor of his countenance is distinct from the shining of his raiment; his countenance is compared to lightning, his raiment to snow; for the lightning is in heavier, snow on the earth; as the Prophet said, Praise the Lord from the earth; fire and hail, snow and vapors. Thus in the Angel's countenance is preserved the splendor of his heavenly nature; in his raiment is shown the grace of human communion. For the appearance of the Angel that talked with them is so ordered, that eyes of flesh might endure the still splendor of his robes, and by reason of his shining countenance they might tremble before the messenger of their Maker.

ID. But what means this raiment where there is no need of a covering? The Angel figures our dress, our shape, our likeness in the Resurrection, when man is sufficiently clothed by the splendor of his own body.

JEROME; The Angel in white raiment signifies the glory of His triumph.

GREG. Or otherwise; Lightning inspires terror; snow is an emblem of equity; and as the Almighty God is terrible to sinners and mild to the righteous, so this Angel is rightly a witness of His resurrection, and is exhibited with a countenance as lightning, and with raiment as snow, that by His presence He might terrify the wicked, and comfort the good; and so it follows, And for fear of him the keepers did shake.

RABAN. These who had not the faith of love were shaken with a panic fear; and they who would not believe the truth of the resurrection become themselves as dead men.

CHRYSOL. For they kept watch over Him with a purpose of cruelty, not with the solicitude of affection. And no man can stand who is forsaken by his own conscience, or troubled with a sense of guilt. Hence the Angel confounds the wicked, and comforts the good.

JEROME; The guards lay like dead men in a trance of terror, but the Angel speaks comfort not to them, but to the women, saying, Fear not you; as much as to say, Let them fear with whom unbelief abides; but do you who seek the crucified Jesus hear that He has risen again, and has accomplished what He promised.

CHRYSOL. For their faith had been bowed by the cruel storm of His Passion, so that they sought Him yet as crucified and dead; I know that you seek Jesus which was crucified; the weight of the trial had bent them to look for the Lord of heaven in the tomb, but, He is not here.

RABAN. His fleshly presence, that is; for His spiritual presence is absent from no place. He is risen, as he said.

CHRYS. As much as to say, If you believe me not, remember His own words. And then follows further proof, when he adds, Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

JEROME; That if my words fail to convince you, the empty tomb may.

CHRYSOL. Thus the Angel first announces His name, declares His Cross, and confesses His Passion; but straightway proclaims Him risen and their Lord. An Angel after such sufferings, after the grave acknowledges Him Lord; how then shall man judge that the Godhead was diminished by the flesh, or that His Might failed in His Passion. He says, Which was crucified, and points out the place where the Lord was laid, that they should not think that it was another, and not the same, who had risen from the dead. And if the Lord reappears in the same flesh, and gives evidence of His resurrection, why should man suppose that he himself shall reappear in other flesh? Or why should a slave disdain his own flesh, seeing the Lord did not change ours?

RABAN. And this glad tiding is given not to you alone for the secret comfort of your own hearts, but you must extend it to all who love Him; Go quickly, and tell his disciples.

CHRYSOL. As much as to say, Woman, now thou art healed, return to the man, and persuade him to faith, whom you did once persuade to treachery. Carry to man the proof of the Resurrection, to whom you did once carry counsel of destruction.

CHRYS. And, behold, he shall go before you, that is, to save you from danger, lest fear should prevail over faith.

JEROME; Mystically; He shall go before you into Galilee, that is, into the wallowing style of the Gentiles, where before was wandering and stumbling, and the foot had no firm and steady resting-place.

BEDE; The Lord is rightly seen by His disciples in Galilee, forasmuch as He had already passed from death to life, from corruption to incorruption; for such is the interpretation of Galilee, 'Transmigration.' Happy women! who merited to announce to the world the triumph of the Resurrection! More happy souls, who in the day of judgment, when the reprobate are smitten with terror, shall have merited to enter the joy of the blessed resurrection!

8. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
9. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
10. Then said Jesus to them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

HILARY; The women having been comforted by the Angel, are straightway met by the Lord, that when they should proclaim His resurrection to the disciples, they should speak rasher from Christ's own mouth than from an Angel's.

AUG. They departed forth of the tomb, that is, from that spot of the garden which was before the tomb hewn in the rock.

JEROME; A twofold feeling possessed the minds of the women, fear and joy; fear, at the greatness of the miracle; joy, in their desire of Him that was risen; but both added speed to their women's steps, as it follows, And did run to bring his disciples word. They went to the Apostles, that through them might be spread abroad the seed of the faith. They who thus desired, and who thus ran, merited to have their rising Lord come to meet them; whence it follows, And, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail.

RABAN. Hereby He showed that He will meet with His help all those who begin the ways of virtue, and enable them to attain to e, everlasting salvation.

JEROME; The women ought first to hear this Hail, that the curse of the woman Eve may be removed in these women.

CHRYSOL. That in these women is contained a full figure c of the Church is shown hereby, that Christ convinces His disciples when in doubt concerning the Resurrection, and confirms them when in fear; and when He meets them He does not terrify them by His power, but prevents them with the ardor of love. And Christ in His Church salutes Himself, for He has taken it into His own Body.

AUG. We conclude that they had speech of Angels twice at the sepulcher; when they saw one Angel, of whom Matthew and Mark speak; and again when they saw two Angels, as Luke and John relate. And twice in like manner of the Lord; once at that time when Mary supposed Him to be the gardener, and now again when He met them in the way to confirm them by repetition, and to restore them from their faintness.

CHRYSOL. Then Mary was not suffered to touch Him; now she has permission not only to touch, but to hold Him altogether; they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

RABAN. It was told above how He rose when the sepulcher was closed, to show that that body which had been shut up therein dead, was now become immortal. He now offers His feet to be held by the women, to show that He had real flesh, which can be touched by mortal creatures.

CHRYSOL. They hold Christ's feet, who in the Church present the type of Evangelic preaching, and merit this privilege by their running to Him; and by faith so detain their Savior's footsteps, that they may come to the honor of His perfect Godhead. She is deservedly bid to touch me not, who mourns her Lord upon earth, and so seeks Him dead in the tomb, as not to know that He reigns in heaven with the Father. This, that the same Mary, one while exalted to the summit of faith, touches Christ, and holds Him with entire and holy affection; and again, cast down in weakness of flesh, and womanly infirmity, doubts, undeserving to touch her Lord, causes us no difficulty. For that is of mystery, this of her sex; that is of divine grace, this of human nature. And so also we, when we have knowledge of divine things, live to God; when we are wise in human things, we are blinded so by our own selves.

ID. They held His feet to show that the head of Christ is the man, but that the woman is in Christ's feet, and that it was given to them through Christ, not to go before, but to follow the man. Christ also repeats what the Angel had said, that what an Angel had made sure, Christ might make yet more sure. It follows, Then said Jesus to them, Fear not.

JEROME; This may be always observed, both in the Old and New Testament, that when there is an appearance of any majestic person, the first thing done is to banish fear, that the mind being tranquilized may receive the things that are said.

HILARY; The same order as of old now followed in the reversal of our woe, that whereas death began from the female sex, the same should now first see the glory of the Resurrection, and be made the messenger thereof. Whence the Lord adds, Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, there shall they see me.

CHRYSOL. He calls them brethren whom He has made akin to His own body; brethren whom the generous Heir has made His co-heirs; brethren, whom He has adopted to be sons of His own Father.

AUG. That the Lord, both by His own mouth, and by the Angel, directs them to seek for Him, not in that place in which He was to show Himself first but in Galilee, makes every believer anxious to understand in what mystery it is spoken. Galilee is interpreted 'transmigration,' or 'revelation'. And according to the first interpretation what meaning offers itself, save this, that the grace of Christ was to pass from the people of Israel to the Gentiles, who would not believe when the Apostles should preach the Gospel to them, unless the Lord Himself should first make ready their way in the hearts of men. This is the signification of that, He shall go before you into Galilee. There shall you see him, means, there shall you find His members, there shall you perceive His living Body in such as shall receive you. According to the other interpretation, 'revelation,' it is to be understood, you shall see him no longer in the form of a servant, but in that in which He is equal with the Father. That revelation will be the true Galilee, when we shall be like him, and shall see him as he is. That will be the blessed passing from this world to that eternity.

Catena Aurea Matthew 28

Resurrection

Osios Loukas Monastery, Greece