Year A
Discover the deeper meaning and connections found in this week's readings, through these great commentaries written by our priests.
Explore this week's readings and hear what God is saying to us through His Word.
Find out more about how we can mark this special day in our liturgy.
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"We have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection."
"Let your thoughts be on heavenly things."
"He saw and he believed."
At the Vigil in Year A, Matthew has the Angel telling the women ‘he is going before you into Galilee.’ While this bore a literal aspect, a deeper reading of the message here is that the Risen One is always ‘one step ahead’ - going in front of us.
The resurrection of Jesus is a mystery which always propels us forward and ahead, driving us to reflect and understand more deeply. Jesus is always ‘ahead’ of us.
But the Apostles also know him as the One ‘with’ them, who eats and drinks with them after His resurrection. Emmaus, the appearances in the fourth Gospel, all are at meals. - the eucharistic reference should be obvious! Christ is present in that very ‘bodily’ fashion.
Christ ‘goes ahead’ to a final destiny, in heaven, at the Father’s right hand. But being ‘With us’, the ‘ahead’ is already ‘here.’ We are ‘in Christ’ And that is where we aim also. You could say that ‘in Christ’ is an eternal state, not subject to the limitations of time or space.
Our primary activity is worship, and the centre of worship, its focus and point of final arrival, is heaven.
In the Eucharist, Paul’s words in today’s epistle echo. We are told to ‘Lift up your hearts’ to Christ on high. That is a fundamental moment in the Mass. Later, we ask that God’s angel take our worship to the heavenly altar, its proper location. That is another fundamental moment. We belong in heaven.
John begins his Gospel with ‘we saw his glory.’ That is its constant theme, seeing the signs, understanding deeply their meaning, and believing. He saw and he believed. But more deeply, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
Acts of the Apostles 10/34,37-43 : Colossians 3/1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5/6-8 : John 20/1-9
Renewal of Baptismal Promises is at the heart of today’s celebration and so it would seem reasonable today to omit the Penitential rite and to proceed straight to the Gloria after the greeting.
The introduction to the reading from the Acts ought to remind the people that the whole preaching of the Apostles was centred on the fact that Jesus is risen and that they were witnesses of that fact as we are also called to be.
Either reading from the Letters of Paul should remind the people that, through out Baptism, we are called to live a new life and we declare this again today in the renewal of our Baptismal promises.
The Alleluja ought to be given special attention today since it is the song of the Resurrection and we have not sung it since Ash Wednesday and it ought always to be sung!
The Gospel reading speaks for itself and needs no introduction.
The Creed is omitted and the Renewal of Baptismal Promises and sprinkling with water from the font should be given special emphasis as the very heart of today’s celebration.
Do you have questions about the liturgy and how we are called to participate in it? Explore how the Church councils, saints, and popes have answered this key question and many more.
Every movement of the Mass is rich in meaning but we can become over-familiar with it. Rediscover the Mass and explore how it relates to the Exodus story, where many of its rituals come from, and how it makes Jesus present to us today.
