Gospel – John 20:1-9
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.” 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. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. 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.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
640 “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” The first element we encounter in the framework of the Easter events is the empty tomb. In itself it is not a direct proof of Resurrection; the absence of Christ’s body from the tomb could be explained otherwise. Nonetheless the empty tomb was still an essential sign for all. Its discovery by the disciples was the first step toward recognizing the very fact of the Resurrection. This was the case, first with the holy women, and then with Peter. The disciple “whom Jesus loved” affirmed that when he entered the empty tomb and discovered “the linen cloths lying there,” “he saw and believed.” This suggests that he realized from the empty tomb’s condition that the absence of Jesus’ body could not have been of human doing and that Jesus had not simply returned to earthly life as had been the case with Lazarus.
647 O truly blessed Night, sings the Exsultet of the Easter Vigil, which alone deserved to know the time and the hour when Christ rose from the realm of the dead! But no one was an eyewitness to Christ’s Resurrection and no evangelist describes it. No one can say how it came about physically. Still less was its innermost essence, his passing over to another life, perceptible to the senses. Although the Resurrection was an historical event that could be verified by the sign of the empty tomb and by the reality of the apostles’ encounters with the risen Christ, still it remains at the very heart of the mystery of faith as something that transcends and surpasses history. This is why the risen Christ does not reveal himself to the world, but to his disciples, “to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.”
657 The empty tomb and the linen cloths lying there signify in themselves that by God’s power Christ’s body had escaped the bonds of death and corruption. They prepared the disciples to encounter the Risen Lord.
PRAYER OF THE SERVANT OF GOD: HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II
(From “In Adoration” through Catalina Rivas Pg.28)
You are our HOPE, our peace, our mediator, friend and brother. Our heart is filled with hope and joy knowing that you live “forever interceding for us.” (Heb. 7:5).
Our hope translates into trust, the joy of Easter and a quick path with you towards the Father. We want to feel as you do and value things as you value them. For you are the center, the beginning and the end of everything. Supported in this HOPE, we want to infuse in the world this scale of evangelical values through which God and His salvific gifts occupy the prime place in the heart and in the activities of real life. We want to LOVE LIKE YOU, who give life and make known everything that you are. We would like to say like Saint Paul: “My life is Christ” (Phil. 1:21).
Our lives make no sense without you. We want to learn to “be with the One whom we know loves us” because “with such a good friend present, every suffering can be endured.” In you, we will learn to unite ourselves to the will of the Father, because during prayer “it is love that speaks.”
From “I Have Given My Life For You” Testimony of Catalina Rivas –
LENTEN SEASON OF 2008 IHG-27) Mérida, March 16, 2008 – the Lord
1) ….I want you to prepare yourselves for the Great Celebration of Easter.
2) Meditate on My Goodness and on your own faults, on My Mercy and on your indifference and resistance, on your few good joys in the past and on My inconceivable and terribly sorrowful suffering on the Cross. Think about yourselves and think about Me.
3) You were gone astray, but I am firmly on the Cross and I allow Myself to be seen by all of you, remaining silent, practically beseeching you, so that when your resistance is overcome, you come and seat yourselves beside Me, in the triumphal carriage of the One who overcame death and sin, in that carriage of light and flame, which moves closer to the shining goal which is Our House and will be your Paradise.
4) Once more I ask you to warm up My Heart, injured by the frozen hearts of so many human beings, wounded by so many betrayals…
Each week we will be presenting a portion of the following Sunday’s readings, and linking it to relevant parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and messages from the Testimony of Catalina. Pay special attention to the italicized underlined sections. This Sunday it is asked, What kind of soil will you be for the word of God? We hope this is inspiring and educational. Any comments you have are certainly welcomed.
Tim Francis prepared this educational program to help you increase your faith and love for the Holy Trinity and our Blessed Mother. His website is http://YouShallBelieve.com
I have known Tim for many years and recommend his work highly. He is a strong advocate for the “The Real Body and Blood Of Jesus” and the numerous miracles that occur on a daily basis. Both of us are greatly inspired by the amazing writings of Catalina Rivas. Catalina is one of the few individuals in history who personally experienced the “Stigmata Of Jesus Christ.”