April 17, 2004 - Easter Saturday

We Cannot Keep from Speaking

Readings:
Acts 4:13-21; Ps 118:1 and 14-15ab, 16-18, 19-21; Mk 16:9-15

Introduction

If we have really encountered the risen Lord in faith, nothing can stop us from proclaiming him and his good news. But stronger and more convincing than whatever we say will be the language of our attitudes and actions. As this was the experience of the apostles, it should also be ours. We live the same life as other people, do the same things, but should do them in a different way if we have really met Christ.

Opening Prayer

Our God and Father,
your Son Jesus lived among us,
flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood.
He died for our sake
and you raised him back to life.
May we experience his love and his presence
to such an extent
that we can never stop proclaiming
what we have seen and heard,
and that people may give glory to you, our God.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: Acts 4:13-21

Observing the boldness of Peter and John
and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men,
the leaders, elders, and scribes were amazed,
and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus.
Then when they saw the man who had been cured standing there with them,
they could say nothing in reply.
So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin,
and conferred with one another, saying,
"What are we to do with these men?
Everyone living in Jerusalem knows that a remarkable sign
was done through them, and we cannot deny it.
But so that it may not be spread any further among the people,
let us give them a stern warning
never again to speak to anyone in this name."

So they called them back
and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Peter and John, however, said to them in reply,
"Whether it is right in the sight of God
for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges.
It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard."
After threatening them further,
they released them,
finding no way to punish them,
on account of the people who were all praising God
for what had happened.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118:1 and 14-15ab, 16-18, 19-21

R (21a) I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me.
or:
R Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just.
R I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me.
or:
R Alleluia.
"The right hand of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of the LORD has struck with power."
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.
Though the LORD has indeed chastised me,
yet he has not delivered me to death.
R I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me.
or:
R Alleluia.
Open to me the gates of justice;
I will enter them and give thanks to the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD;
the just shall enter it.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
R I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me.
or:
R Alleluia.

Gospel Reading: Mk 16:9-15

After Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary of Magdala from whom he had driven out seven demons. She went and reported the news to his followers, who were now mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he lived and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

After this he showed himself in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. These men too went back and told the others, but they did not believe them.

Later Jesus showed himself to the Eleven while they were at table. He reproached them for their unbelief and stubbornness in refusing to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

Then he told them, "Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation."

Commentary

IS the faith something you "have", or something you "do"? The simplest words in the language are the most difficult to understand: God, faith, hope, love, soul, mind and those real chestnuts: have, do, be.

They don't appear to be difficult, because we use them so fluently and so often. But look at any one of them and tell me what it means. If I ask no question about your answer, we may think the matter is clear; but if I ask a second or a third question we are both in the depths! Our faith is a bottomless ocean. How could it be otherwise? St. Paul prays that the Ephesians, "knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge [will be] filled with the utter fullness of God" (Eph 3:19). God cannot be our "possession" in the way we possess other things; it is the other way around: we are possessed by God.

We call "fundamentalist" those people who fix their faith in some text as in concrete, casting aside every other consideration. It is a waste of a good word; they are not fundamentalists; they are superficialists, like the Pharisees. Neither are they traditionalists: they cast tradition aside and fix on their own interpretation of the texts.

Our faith takes us beyond all our ready categories. Speak of it, if we will, as something we "have"; but it is safer to think of it as something we "do", and even something that we "are", by God's gift.

General Intercessions

- That the Church may never hesitate to proclaim to the world truths and lifestyles that are not pleasant for the world to hear, we pray:

- That missionaries and, in fact, all Christians by their lifestyle keep proclaiming that Christ is alive and relevant, we pray:

- That we may never get tired of living the risen life of the Lord and keep the enthusiasm of a deep faith and attachment to Jesus, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
accept this bread and this wine
and let your Son be alive among us
in these signs.
May he give us a bit of his own strength
to keep us on our feet in the storms of life,
to live in the joy of people who are redeemed,
for the Lord is alive
and we are alive on account of him,
now and for ever.

Prayer after Communion

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son has chosen us
to be his companions.
May people recognize him in us
and may they accept him
when what we do convinces them
that he is with us and that you are our God
in the unity of the Holy Spirit
now and for ever.

Blessing

This whole week after Easter has steeped us in faith in the risen Lord. May this faith indeed be the core of our belief and of our life. The Lord is risen. We rise with him even now, little by little, to a new and more beautiful life in Christ. Stay in that certainty and joy, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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