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Easter Vigil

From: Mark 16:1-7

The Resurrection

[1] And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother
of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint
him. [2] And very early on the first day of the week they went to the
tomb when the sun had risen. [3] And they were saying to one another.
"Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?"
[4] And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; for it was
very large. [5] And entering the tomb, they saw a young man on tile
right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. [6] And he
said to them. "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was
crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid
him. [7] But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before
you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you."

Commentary:

1. The sabbath rest was laid down in the Law of Moses as a day when the
Israelites should devote themselves to prayer and the worship of God,
and also as a form of protection for workers. As time went by the
rabbis specified in minuscule detail what could and could not be done
on the sabbath. This was why the holy women were unable to organize
things on the sabbath for anointing the dead body of our Lord, and why
they had to wait until the first day of the week.

From the earliest days of the Church, this first day is called the
"dies Domini", the Lord's Day, because, St Jerome comments, "after the
sorrow of the sabbath, a joyful day breaks out, the day of greatest
joy, lit up by the greatest light of all, for this day saw the triumph
of the risen Christ" ("Comm. in Marcum, in loc."). This is why the
Church has designated Sunday as the day specially consecrated to the
Lord, a day of rest on which we are commanded to attend Holy Mass.

3-4. On the structure of Jewish tombs and the stone covering the
entrance, cf. note on Mt 27:60.

[The note on Mt 27:60 states:

60. It was customary for well-to-do Jews to build tombs for themselves
in their own property. Most of these tombs were excavated out of rock,
in the form of a cavern; they would have had a small hall or vestibule
leading to the tomb proper. At the end of the hall, which would only
have been a few meters long, a very low doorway gave access to the
burial chamber. The first entrance door, which was at ground level,
was closed off by a huge stone, which could be rolled (it was called a
"gobel"), fitted into a groove to make rolling easier.]

5. Like so many other passages of the Gospel this one shows the extreme
sobriety with which the evangelists report historical facts. From the
parallel passage of St Matthew (28:5) we know that this person was an
angel. But both Mark and Luke are content to report what the women say,
without any further interpretation.

6. These women's sensitive love urges them, as soon as the Law permits,
to go to anoint the dead body of Jesus, without giving a thought to the
difficulties involved. Our Lord rewarded them in kind: they were the
first to hear news of his resurrection. The Church has always invoked
the Blessed Virgin "pro devota femineo sexu", to intercede for devout
womanhood. And it is indeed true that in the terrible moments of the
passion and death of Jesus women proved stronger than men: "Woman is
stronger than man, and more faithful, in the hour of suffering: Mary of
Magdala and Mary of Cleophas and Salome!

"With a group of valiant women like these, closely united to our Lady
of Sorrows, what work for souls could be done in the world!" (St J.
Escriva, "The Way", 982).

"Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified": the same name as written on the
inscription on the cross is used by the angel to proclaim the glorious
victory of the resurrection. In this way St Mark bears witness
explicitly to the crucified man and the resurrected man being one and
the same. Jesus' body, which was treated so cruelly, now has immortal
life.

"He has risen": the glorious resurrection of Jesus is the central
mystery of our faith. "If Christ has not been raised, then our
preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain" (1 Cor 15:14). It is
also the basis of our hope: "if Christ has not been raised, your faith
is futile and you are still in your sins.... If for this life only we
have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied" (1 Cor 15:17
and 19). The Resurrection means that Jesus has overcome death, sin,
pain and the power of the devil.

The Redemption which our Lord carried out through his death and
resurrection is applied to the believer by means of the sacraments,
especially by Baptism and the Eucharist: "We were buried with him by
baptism and death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, we might walk in newness of life" (Rom 6:4). "He
who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day" (Jn 6:54). The resurrection of Christ is
also the rule of our new life: "If you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right
hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things
that are on earth" (Col 3:1-2). Rising with Christ through grace means
that "just as Jesus Christ through his resurrection began a new
immortal and heavenly life, so we must begin a new life according to
the Spirit, once and for all renouncing sin and everything that leads
us to sin, loving only God and everything that leads to God" ("St Pius
X Catechism", 77).

7. The designation of the Apostle Peter by name is a way of focusing
attention on the head of the Apostolic College, just at this time when
the Apostles are so discouraged. It is also a delicate way of
indicating that Peter's denials have been forgiven, and of confirming
his primacy among the Apostles.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.