The Mass
of Easter Sunday
L-Għid il-Kbir tal-Qawmien tal-Mulej mill-Imwiet
Missalin B pp271-278
Lectionary: 42
Reading : 34a, 37-43
Peter proceeded to speak and said:
“You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee
after the baptism that John preached, how
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about
doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem
L-Ewwel Qari - Atti ta’
l-Appostli 10, 34a, 37-43
F’dak
iż-żmien, Pietru qabad jitkellem u qal:
“Intom tafu b’dak li ġara mal-Lhudija kollha, ibda mill-Galilija, wara li
Ġwanni xandar il-magħmudija; kif Alla kkonsagra lil Ġesù ta’ Nażaret bl-Ispirtu
s-Santu u bil-qawwa, u kif dan Ġesù
għadda jagħmel il-ġid u jfejjaq ’il dawk kollha li kienu maħkuma mix-xitan,
għax Alla kien miegħu. U aħna xhud ta’ dak kollu li hu għamel fl-art tal-Lhudija
u f’Ġerusalemm. Tawh il-mewt billi dendluh mal-għuds
tas-salib; imma Alla qajmu mill-imwiet
fit-tielet jum u għamel li hu jidher, mhux lil kulħadd, imma li xhieda li Alla
għażel minn qabel lilna, li miegħu kilna u xrobna wara li qawmien tiegħu
mill-imwiet. Lilna ordnalna biex inxandruh lill-poplu u nixhdu li dan hu dak li
Alla għamlu mħallef tal-ħajjin u tal-mejtin. Il-profeti kollha jixhdu għalih u
jgħidu li kull min jemmen fih jaqla’ l-maħfra tad-dnubiet. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.
Responsorial Psalm psalm
118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house ofIsrael
“His mercy endures forever.”
R/ This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or: R/ Alleluia.
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of
“His mercy endures forever.”
R/ This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or
“The right hand of the LORD has struck with power;
the right hand of the LORD is exalted.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.”
R/ This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
R/ This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or
SALM RESPONSORJALI - Salm
117
R/ Dan
hu l-jum li għamel il-Mulej: ħa nifirħu u nithennew fih. Hallelujah.
Faħħru
l-Mulej, għaliex hu tajjeb,
għax għal dejjem it-tjieba tiegħu!
Ħa jgħid wliedIsrael :
"Għal dejjem it-tjieba tiegħu!" R/
għax għal dejjem it-tjieba tiegħu!
Ħa jgħid wlied
"Għal dejjem it-tjieba tiegħu!" R/
Il-leminija
tal-Mulej 'il fuq merfugħa,
il-leminija tal-Mulej għamlet ħwejjeġ ta’ ħila!
Ma mmutx, imma nibqa' ngħix,
u nħabbar l-għemejjel tal-Mulej. R/
il-leminija tal-Mulej għamlet ħwejjeġ ta’ ħila!
Ma mmutx, imma nibqa' ngħix,
u nħabbar l-għemejjel tal-Mulej. R/
Il-ġebla li warrbu l-bennejja
saret il-ġebla tax-xewka.
Bis-saħħa tal-Mulej seħħ dan:
ħaġa tal-għaġeb f’għajnejna. R/
saret il-ġebla tax-xewka.
Bis-saħħa tal-Mulej seħħ dan
ħaġa tal-għaġeb f’għajnejna. R/
For the Second Reading
reading 2 colossians
3:1-4
Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek
what is above, where Christ is seated at
the right hand of God. Think of what is
above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him
in glory. This is the Word of the Lord.
or 1 cor 5:6b-8
Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that a little yeast leavens
all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For
our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the
feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast
of malice and wickedness, but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. This
is the Word of the Lord.
Għat-Tieni Qari tingħażel silta mit-tnejn li ġejjin.
It-Tieni Qari -
Ittra lill-Kolossin 3, 1-4
Ħuti,
jekk intom irxoxtajtu ma’ Kristu, fittxu l-ħwejjeġ tas-sema, fejn Kristu
qiegħed fuq il-lemin ta’ Alla.
Aħsbu fil-ħwejjeġ tas-sema, mhux
f’dawk ta’ l-art. Għax intom mittu, imma
ħajjitkom hi moħbija flimkien ma’ Kristu f’Alla. Meta jidher Kristu, li hu l-ħajja tagħkom,
imbagħad intom ukoll tidhru flimkien miegħu fil-glorja. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.
jew:
Qari mill-Ewwel Ittra
lill-Korintin 5, 6b-8
Ħuti, ma
tafux li ftit ħmira ttalla’ l-għaġna kollha? Tnaddfu mill-ħmira l-qadima
ħalli tkunu għaġna ġdida, kif intom bla ħmira.
Il-Ħaruf tal-Għid tagħna, li hu
Kristu, hu maqtul! Nagħmlu festa,
mhux bil-ħmira l-qadima, anqas bil-ħmira tal-qerq u tal-ħażen, imma
bil-ħobż bla ħmira tas-safa u tas-sewwa.
Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.
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. This is the Word of the Lord.
L-EVANĠELJU - San Ġwann 20,
1-9
Kien l-ewwel jum tal-ġimgħa, filgħodu kmieni kif
kien għadu d-dlam, u Marjam ta’ Magdala
ġiet ħdejn il-qabar u rat il-blata mneħħija
mill-qabar. Għalhekk telqet tiġri għand Xmun Pietru u għand id-dixxiplu l-ieħor li kien
iħobb Ġesù, u qaltilhom: Qalgħu
l-Mulej mill-qabar, u ma nafux fejn qegħduh.” Pietru u d-dixxiplu l-ieħor ħarġu u ġew ħdejn
il-qabar. It-tnejn ġrew flimkien, imma d-dixxiplu l-ieħor
ħaffef aktar minn
////////////////////////////////////
A reflection by
the Pontifical preacher Fr Raniero Cantalamessa ofm cap
HE IS RISEN!
There are men -- we see this in the phenomenon
of suicide bombers -- who die for a misguided or even evil cause, mistakenly
retaining, but in good faith, that the cause is a worthy one. Even Christ's
death does not testify to the truth of his cause, but only the fact that he
believed in its truth. Christ's death is the supreme witness of his charity,
but not of his truth. This truth is adequately testified to only by the
Resurrection. "The faith of Christians," says St. Augustine
Keeping to the purpose that has guided us up to this point, we must leave faith aside for the moment and attend to history. We would like to try to respond to the following question: Can Christ's resurrection be defined as a historical event, in the common sense of the term, that is, did it "really happen"?
There are two facts that offer themselves for the historian's consideration and permit him to speak of the Resurrection: First, the sudden and inexplicable faith of the disciples, a faith so tenacious as to withstand even the trial of martyrdom; second, the explanation of this faith that has been left by those who had it, that is, the disciples. In the decisive moment, when Jesus was captured and executed, the disciples did not entertain any thoughts about the resurrection. They fled and took Jesus' case to be closed.
In the meantime something had to intervene that in a short time not only provoked a radical change of their state of soul, but that led them to an entirely different activity and to the founding of the Church. This "something" is the historical nucleus of Easter faith.
The oldest testimony to the Resurrection is Paul's: "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: That Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again according to the Scriptures; and that he was seen by Cephas, and after that by the eleven.
"Then he was seen by more than 500 brethren at once, of whom many are still with us and some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen also by me, as by one born out of due time" (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
These words were written around A.D. 56 or 57. But the core of the text is constituted by an anterior faith that Paul himself says he received from others. Keeping in mind that Paul learned of these things immediately after his conversion, we can date them to about A.D. 35, that is, five or six years after the death of Christ. It is thus a testimony of rare historical value.
The accounts of the Evangelists were written some decades later and reflect a later phase in the Church's reflection. But the core of the testimony remains unchanged: The Lord is risen and was seen alive. To this a new element is added, perhaps determined by an apologetic preoccupation, and so of minor historical value: The insistence on the fact of the empty tomb. Even for the Gospels, the appearances of the Risen Christ are the decisive facts.
The appearances, nevertheless, testify to a new dimension of the Risen Christ, his mode of being "according to the Spirit," which is new and different with respect to his previous mode of existing, "according to the flesh." For example, he cannot be recognized by whoever sees him, but only by those to whom he gives the ability to know him. His corporeality is different from what it was before. It is free from physical laws: It enters and exits through closed doors; it appears and disappears.
According to a different explanation of the Resurrection, one advanced by Rudolf Bultmann and still proposed today, what we have here are psychogenetic visions, that is, subjective phenomena similar to hallucinations. But this, if it were true, would constitute in the end a greater miracle than the one that such explanations wish to deny. It supposes that in fact different people, in different situations and locations, had the same impression, the same halucination.
The disciples could not have deceived themselves: They were specific people -- fishermen -- not at all given to visions. They did not believe the first ones; Jesus almost has to overpower their resistance: "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe!" They could not even want to deceive others. All of their interests opposed this; they would have been the first to feel themselves deceived by Jesus. If he were not risen, to what purpose would it have been to face persecution and death for him? What material benefit would they have drawn from it?
If the historical character of the Resurrection -- that is, its objective, and not only subjective, character -- is denied, the birth of the Church and of the faith become an even more inexplicable mystery than the Resurrection itself. It has been justly observed that "the idea that the imposing edifice of the history of Christianity is like an enormous pyramid balanced upon an insignificant fact is certainly less credible than the assertion that the entire event -- and that also means the most significant fact within this -- really did occupy a place in history comparable to the one that the New Testament attributes to it."
Where does the historical research on the Resurrection arrive? We can see it in the words of the disciples of Emmaus: Some disciples went to Jesus' tomb Easter morning and they found that things were as the women had said who had gone their before them, "but they did not see him." History too must take itself to Jesus' tomb and see that things are as the witnesses have said. But it does not see the Risen One. It is not enough to observe matters historically. It is necessary to see the Risen Christ, and this is something history cannot do; only faith can.
The angel who appeared to the women Easter morning said to them: "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" (Luke 24:5). I must confess that at the end of these reflections I feel that this rebuke is also directed at me. It is as if the angel were to say to me: "Why do you waste time seeking among dead human and historical arguments, the one who is alive and at work in the Church and in the world? Go instead and tell his brothers that he is risen."
If it were up to me, that is the only thing I would do. I quit teaching the history of Christian origins 30 years ago to dedicate myself to proclaming theKingdom of God
This is why I have decided to use these commentaries on the Sunday Gospels to oppose a tendency often motivated by commercial interests and help those who may read my observations to form an opinion about Jesus that is less influenced by the clamor of the advertising world.
Keeping to the purpose that has guided us up to this point, we must leave faith aside for the moment and attend to history. We would like to try to respond to the following question: Can Christ's resurrection be defined as a historical event, in the common sense of the term, that is, did it "really happen"?
There are two facts that offer themselves for the historian's consideration and permit him to speak of the Resurrection: First, the sudden and inexplicable faith of the disciples, a faith so tenacious as to withstand even the trial of martyrdom; second, the explanation of this faith that has been left by those who had it, that is, the disciples. In the decisive moment, when Jesus was captured and executed, the disciples did not entertain any thoughts about the resurrection. They fled and took Jesus' case to be closed.
In the meantime something had to intervene that in a short time not only provoked a radical change of their state of soul, but that led them to an entirely different activity and to the founding of the Church. This "something" is the historical nucleus of Easter faith.
The oldest testimony to the Resurrection is Paul's: "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: That Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again according to the Scriptures; and that he was seen by Cephas, and after that by the eleven.
"Then he was seen by more than 500 brethren at once, of whom many are still with us and some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen also by me, as by one born out of due time" (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
These words were written around A.D. 56 or 57. But the core of the text is constituted by an anterior faith that Paul himself says he received from others. Keeping in mind that Paul learned of these things immediately after his conversion, we can date them to about A.D. 35, that is, five or six years after the death of Christ. It is thus a testimony of rare historical value.
The accounts of the Evangelists were written some decades later and reflect a later phase in the Church's reflection. But the core of the testimony remains unchanged: The Lord is risen and was seen alive. To this a new element is added, perhaps determined by an apologetic preoccupation, and so of minor historical value: The insistence on the fact of the empty tomb. Even for the Gospels, the appearances of the Risen Christ are the decisive facts.
The appearances, nevertheless, testify to a new dimension of the Risen Christ, his mode of being "according to the Spirit," which is new and different with respect to his previous mode of existing, "according to the flesh." For example, he cannot be recognized by whoever sees him, but only by those to whom he gives the ability to know him. His corporeality is different from what it was before. It is free from physical laws: It enters and exits through closed doors; it appears and disappears.
According to a different explanation of the Resurrection, one advanced by Rudolf Bultmann and still proposed today, what we have here are psychogenetic visions, that is, subjective phenomena similar to hallucinations. But this, if it were true, would constitute in the end a greater miracle than the one that such explanations wish to deny. It supposes that in fact different people, in different situations and locations, had the same impression, the same halucination.
The disciples could not have deceived themselves: They were specific people -- fishermen -- not at all given to visions. They did not believe the first ones; Jesus almost has to overpower their resistance: "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe!" They could not even want to deceive others. All of their interests opposed this; they would have been the first to feel themselves deceived by Jesus. If he were not risen, to what purpose would it have been to face persecution and death for him? What material benefit would they have drawn from it?
If the historical character of the Resurrection -- that is, its objective, and not only subjective, character -- is denied, the birth of the Church and of the faith become an even more inexplicable mystery than the Resurrection itself. It has been justly observed that "the idea that the imposing edifice of the history of Christianity is like an enormous pyramid balanced upon an insignificant fact is certainly less credible than the assertion that the entire event -- and that also means the most significant fact within this -- really did occupy a place in history comparable to the one that the New Testament attributes to it."
Where does the historical research on the Resurrection arrive? We can see it in the words of the disciples of Emmaus: Some disciples went to Jesus' tomb Easter morning and they found that things were as the women had said who had gone their before them, "but they did not see him." History too must take itself to Jesus' tomb and see that things are as the witnesses have said. But it does not see the Risen One. It is not enough to observe matters historically. It is necessary to see the Risen Christ, and this is something history cannot do; only faith can.
The angel who appeared to the women Easter morning said to them: "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" (Luke 24:5). I must confess that at the end of these reflections I feel that this rebuke is also directed at me. It is as if the angel were to say to me: "Why do you waste time seeking among dead human and historical arguments, the one who is alive and at work in the Church and in the world? Go instead and tell his brothers that he is risen."
If it were up to me, that is the only thing I would do. I quit teaching the history of Christian origins 30 years ago to dedicate myself to proclaming the
This is why I have decided to use these commentaries on the Sunday Gospels to oppose a tendency often motivated by commercial interests and help those who may read my observations to form an opinion about Jesus that is less influenced by the clamor of the advertising world.
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