Saints + Scripture: The Resurrection of the Lord

The Popish Plot: vEaster
"Easter 2020"

Death without the Eucharist: Day 26
He was twenty-six days dying & not yet dead.

'Tis Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord: Easter-link & Wikipedia-link Easter; Wikipedia-link Octave & Wikipedia-link Paschaltide.

Commentary: Wayback Machine Easter Sunday. Quoth Joyfully Living the Gospel Day by Day:

After the tragic death of Jesus, sadness covered the Holy Land. It lasted until th crack of dawn on Easter Sunday. Then a shout was heard around all of Jerusalem: He is risen! Jesus is risen from the dead!

To this very day the same cry of joy is heard around the world. ALLELUIA!

Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter ten, verses thirty-four(a) & thirty-seven thru forty-three;
Psalm One Hundred Eighteen (R/. twenty-four; or, "Alleluia"), verses one & two, sixteen & seventeen, & twenty-two & twenty-three;
The Letter to the Colossians, chapter three, verses one thru four;
or, the First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter five, verses six(b), seven, & eight;
The Gospel according to John, chapter twenty, verses one thru nine;
or, the Gospel according to Luke, chapter twenty-four, verses thirteen thru thirty-five.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, our Easter Gospel is John’s startlingly concise account of the Resurrection.

The Easter declaration, properly understood, has always been and still is an explosion, an earthquake, a revolution. For the Easter faith—on clear display from the earliest days of the Christian movement—is that Jesus of Nazareth, a first-century Jew from the northern reaches of the Promised Land, who had been brutally put to death by the Roman authorities, is alive again through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Once we’ve come to some clarity about the Resurrection claim itself, we can begin to see why it still matters so massively. If the Resurrection is only a bland symbol or a projection of our desires, then tyrants have nothing to fear from it. But if it is a fact of history, an act of the living God in space and time, then sinners have real cause to repent.

A second great implication of the Resurrection is that heaven and earth are coming together. The hope of ancient Israel was not a jail break, not an escape from this world, but precisely the unification of heaven and earth in a great marriage. Recall a central line from the prayer that Jesus bequeathed to his Church: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The bodily Resurrection of Jesus—"the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep"—is the powerful sign that the two orders are in fact coming together.

Reflect: Why is the Resurrection really the startling "Good News" of the Gospel? How does it give you hope to celebrate it today?

Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M. (U.S.C. of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Video reflection by Mother Clare, C.F.R. (Array of Hope): Easter of Hope.

Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.

Scripture Study—The 3:16 Project
The Gospel according to John, chapter three, verse sixteen.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whomever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

Commentary: John, 3:16 is the inspiration for the whole, ludicrous 3:16 Project.

†

Otherwise, 12 April would be the commemoration of Saint Julius I, Pope (died 352), thirty-fifth (XXXV) Bishop of Rome (337-352), a foe of the Arian heresy: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Pontifex-link & Wikipedia-link Pontifex; & Heresy-link & Wikipedia-link Arianism.

Commentary: Wayback Machine '18.

'Twould also be the commemoration of Saint Zeno of Verona, Bishop (circa 300-371; also spelt Zenón or Zénon), Bishop of Verona (362-371), a foe of the Arian heresy: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link & Wikipedia-link Verona; & Heresy-link & Wikipedia-link Arianism.

'Twould also be the commemoration of Saint Sabbas the Goth, Martyr (334-372, A.K.A. the Lector), martyred by pagan Goths: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also be the commemoration of Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, Religious, O.C.D. (1900-1920, the "Flower of the Andes," A.K.A. Juana Fernández Solar): Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also be the commemoration of Saint Giuseppe Moscati (1880-1927): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also be the commemoration of Saint David Uribe Velasco, Priest & Martyr (1888-1927), martyred in the reign of the Mexican president Plutarco Elías Calles, one of the Martyrs of the Cristero War: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (List); Martyr-link México & Wikipedia-link México.

Commentary: Ss. Giuseppe & David died on the same day, 12 April 1927, St. Guiseppe peacefully & St. David violently.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"How can we not sing? How can we not express the fullness of those feelings accumulated during our long Lenten journey & during the dramatic ritual of the Paschal Triduum?"
—Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978, r. 1963-1978; feast: 29 May)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who fallen asleep. To Him be glory & dominion unto ages of ages."
—St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church (347-407, feast: 13 September)