20200413
ANGELS
OF THE RESURRECTION
13 April, 2020, Easter Monday
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 2:14,22-33 ©
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God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to
this
On the day of
Pentecost Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed the crowd in a loud
voice: ‘Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was
a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God
worked through him when he was among you, as you all know. This man, who was
put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you
took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised
him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him
to be held in its power since, as David says of him:
I saw
the Lord before me always,
for
with him at my right hand nothing can shake me.
So my
heart was glad
and
my tongue cried out with joy;
my
body, too, will rest in the hope
that
you will not abandon my soul to Hades
nor
allow your holy one to experience corruption.
You
have made known the way of life to me,
you
will fill me with gladness through your presence.
‘Brothers, no one
can deny that the patriarch David himself is dead and buried: his tomb is still
with us. But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn him an oath to
make one of his descendants succeed him on the throne, what he foresaw and
spoke about was the resurrection of the Christ: he is the one who was not
abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not experience corruption. God raised
this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that. Now raised to the
heights by God’s right hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit,
who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 15(16):1-2,5,7-11 ©
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Preserve
me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
Preserve
me, God, I take refuge in you.
I
say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.
O
Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it
is you yourself who are my prize.’
Preserve
me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
I
will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,
who
even at night directs my heart.
I
keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since
he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.
Preserve
me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
And
so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even
my body shall rest in safety.
For
you will not leave my soul among the dead,
nor
let your beloved know decay.
Preserve
me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
You
will show me the path of life,
the
fullness of joy in your presence,
at
your right hand happiness for ever.
Preserve
me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
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Sequence
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Victimae Paschali Laudes
Christians,
to the Paschal Victim
offer
sacrifice and praise.
The
sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;
and
Christ, the undefiled,
hath
sinners to his Father reconciled.
Death
with life contended:
combat
strangely ended!
Life’s
own Champion, slain,
yet
lives to reign.
Tell
us, Mary:
say
what thou didst see
upon
the way.
The
tomb the Living did enclose;
I saw
Christ’s glory as he rose!
The
angels there attesting;
shroud
with grave-clothes resting.
Christ,
my hope, has risen:
he
goes before you into Galilee.
That
Christ is truly risen
from
the dead we know.
Victorious
king, thy mercy show!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ps117:24
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
This
day was made by the Lord:
we
rejoice and are glad.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 28:8-15 ©
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Tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee: they will see
me there
Filled with awe
and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the
disciples.
And
there, coming to meet them, was Jesus. ‘Greetings’ he said. And the women came
up to him and, falling down before him, clasped his feet. Then Jesus said to
them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for
Galilee; they will see me there.’
While
they were on their way, some of the guard went off into the city to tell the
chief priests all that had happened. These held a meeting with the elders and,
after some discussion, handed a considerable sum of money to the soldiers with
these instructions, ‘This is what you must say, “His disciples came during the
night and stole him away while we were asleep.” And should the governor come to
hear of this, we undertake to put things right with him ourselves and to see
that you do not get into trouble.’ The soldiers took the money and carried out
their instructions, and to this day that is the story among the Jews.
ANGELS OF THE
RESURRECTION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 2:14. 22-33; MT 28:8-15 ]
Traditionally, Easter
Monday is also called “the Angel’s Monday.” This is because on the Octave of Easter,
the gospel focuses on the appearances of our Lord after His death.
However, His appearances were preceded by the announcement of the angels to the
women that the Lord is risen. Indeed, in St Matthew’s
account, when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to visit the sepulcher “…
suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending
from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance
was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the
guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women,
‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was
crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come,
see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He
has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to
Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.'” (Mt 28:1-7)
All the other
evangelists recounted that the women upon reaching the tomb, found the stone
rolled away and empty.
Then an angel or even two angels appeared to them and announced that Jesus had
risen. Mark spoke of “a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on
the right side” announcing to them the same message. Both Luke and John have
two men or angels in dazzling white appearing to the women. (cf Lk 24:4-7; Jn
20:11-13) In spite of the variations in their accounts, the message
is consistent, the Lord is risen and they must go and tell the disciples.
In other words, those
who received the Good News of the resurrection must now be like the angels,
become messengers of the Resurrection. To be angels of the resurrection does not mean
that we assume the nature of angels, rather their office. The word
“angel” does not only denote their spiritual nature gifted with pure
intelligence and will but that they are also servants and messengers of
God. So we are called to assume their office, which is to be the
messengers of God. Having received the Good News of the resurrection, we
cannot keep that Good News to ourselves. This was what the Lord said to
the apostles as well after appearing to them. Jesus said to them again,
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (Jn 20:21)
The disciples were commissioned to make disciples of all nations, “baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am
with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:19f)
However, many of us are
fearful of announcing Jesus to the world, unlike Peter who told the crowd at Pentecost in
no uncertain terms, “God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are
witness to that.” The women initially also reacted in fear when the
body was missing from the tomb and when the angels appeared to them.
“They left the tomb quickly with fear.” (Mt 28:8)
Mark was even more explicit. “So they went out and fled from the tomb,
for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for
they were afraid.” (Mk 16:8) But the apostles before encountering the
Lord were also afraid. The Lord told them to meet Him in Galilee, but
they were still hiding in Jerusalem for fear of the Jews. So Jesus had to
appear to them in Jersualem instead. (cf Lk
24:36-40)
Indeed, fear is what
hinders us from being messengers of the Good News, especially of the
resurrection of our Lord. We
are afraid of ridicule. People might think of us, especially if we are
professionals and have status in society, to be naïve and superstitious, unfit
for a person of such stature. We want to look intelligent, sensible and
reasonable to the world. We are so afraid of rejection and
opposition. Nevertheless, this will always be the case. The world
cannot accept the resurrection of Christ. Otherwise, they would have to
bow down and worship Him as Lord. So they will try to discredit our
message. This was what we read in today’s gospel. The chief
priests, when they heard what happened, bribed the guards with a considerable
sum of money with these instructions, “This is what you must say, ‘His
disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And
should the governor come to hear of this, we undertake to put things right with
him ourselves and to see that you do not get into trouble.” Truly,
because the world seeks power, money, fame and pleasure, they will see the
gospel as a nuisance to their freedom to seek after the things of the
world. We are bad news to them.
This fear is overcome
once we meet the Risen Lord. Hearing
the announcement that the Lord is risen brings fear and not yet joy until we
have encountered the Risen Lord ourselves. Mary Magdalene was still in
mourning and bereavement when she discovered that the body of her beloved Lord
was stolen. It was only when the Lord appeared to her and called her by
name that she was filled with joy. The women who fled the tomb in fear were
reassured when the Lord appeared to them personally and said, “‘Greetings!’ And
they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then
Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to
Galilee; there they will see me.'” (Mt 28:9f)
So, too, in the case of the apostles. They were hiding behind locked
doors “for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace
be with you.” (Jn 20:19) Then we read that “the disciples rejoiced
when they saw the Lord.” (Jn 20:20)
This was then immediately followed by the sending. (Jn
20:21-23)
Clearly, if we are diffident
about proclaiming and testifying to the resurrection of our Lord in our lives,
it is because we have not yet encountered the Risen Lord. We are still uncertain about the
truth of His resurrection. We are just like the women and the disciples
of our Lord who had heard the announcement that the Lord is risen but have not
yet met Him ourselves. This explains why even among Catholics, there are
varying degrees of commitment to the Lord, the gospel and His Church.
Many of our Catholics are nominal Catholics who have only heard about the Risen
Lord. But because they have not encountered Him personally in their
lives, their faith remains at most a cerebral faith. They need to
encounter the Risen Lord before they can truly announce the gospel with confidence
and without fear.
How can this be made
possible? We must first begin by hearing the gospel. This was what Peter did in the
first reading. He tried to show to his listeners that the death and
resurrection of our Lord was in the plan of God. “This man, who was
put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you
took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised
him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him
to be held in its power.” To substantiate this claim, he cited the
scriptures from Psalm 16:9-11 which testify to the incorruptibility of
the body of the future messianic King. “I saw the Lord before me always,
for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me. So my heart was glad and my
tongue cried out with joy; my body, too, will rest in the hope that you will
not abandon my soul to the Hades nor allow your holy one to experience corruption.”
After hearing the
announcement and the testimony, we must pray for the Holy Spirit as Peter said, “Now raised to the
heights by God’s hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was
promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.”
When they received the Spirit of the Risen Lord, they were not only certain
that Jesus is Lord and risen but that He will empower and accompany them in
their mission until the end of time. So during this Octave of Easter,
with the holy women of Jerusalem, we must contemplate and bow before the Lord,
hold on to His feet and worship Him in awe. (Mt 29:9)
Only through contemplation on His passion and resurrection, can we find the
strength to announce Him to the world that He is Lord, both by our words and a
transformed life.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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