“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!’

“So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

“Then the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

“They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’

“‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put Him.’ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

“‘Woman,’ He said, ‘why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’

“Thinking He was the gardener, said said, ‘Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.’

“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’

“She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher).

“Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to Me, for I have not returned to the Father. Go instead to My brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’

“Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that He had said these things to her.'” John 20: 1-19

JESUS IS RISEN AND ALIVE!

GOD IS WITH US!

Tonight begins the start of the Easter Triduum – the three days from the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday. These sacred days mark the humanity and divinity of Christ’s Paschal Mystery. We ponder and celebrate the journey of Jesus to save us from sin – from His Life and Death on the Cross, to His Resurrection and ultimate Ascension into Heaven.

It is difficult to fathom the love and mercy and courage of Jesus. He was 33 years old when He died – a young man, full of life.

Placing ourselves there beside the disciples, within the scenes unfolding before Jesus’ death, we can imagine the chaos and uncertainty and fear that surrounded Jesus’ twelve disciples.

The Gospels provide us with treasured glimpses of the final hours of Jesus’ life on earth. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, He shares a final meal – The Last Supper – with the disciples. The Gospel of John describes that, as the meal is being served, Jesus gets up from the table and begins washing the feet of His disciples. His disciples are stunned by this for, in Jesus’ time, a foot-washing slave was at the very lowest point of the social order. The disciples had personally witnessed Jesus display His power by performing miracles. They had heard him speak with great authority and authenticity. They had observed others recognize Jesus as the very Son of God. And yet through this act of unselfish love, Jesus shows his disciples a new way of living – a world in which the most important people are those who care for and serve others:

“’Amen, Amen, [I tell you the truth], no slave is greater than his master, nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it,’ [says Jesus, to His disciples].” John 13: 16-17

As the evening continues, Jesus reveals that one of the twelve disciples will betray him to the Jewish and Roman officials. Again, the disciples are shaken by this revelation. A disciple asks Jesus which follower will betray Him. Jesus answers the question directly:

“’It is the one to whom I hand the morsel [of bread], after I have dipped it.’ So, He dipped the morsel and [took it and] handed it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.” John 13: 26

After Judas leaves them, Jesus continues to comfort His disciples, reminding them always to love one another:

“’I give you a new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.’” John 13: 34-35

After some time, they left the room where they were dining and went into the Garden of Gethsemane so that Jesus could pray. It is John’s record of these final prayers of Jesus that resides deeply, within my heart and mind:

“’Father, the hour has come … I am coming to You. I speak this in the world so that they may share My joy completely. I gave them Your Word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world but that You keep them from the evil one. Consecrate them in the truth. Your Word is truth. … I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.’” John 17: 1, 13-17, 20-21

In the moments before Jesus is handed over to the authorities, He is praying for all of us – His beloved disciples who lived and loved and worked with Him, and for all others who have come to love and believe in Him, through the centuries to this very moment.

What a blessing, to have Jesus pray for us.

What a beautiful display of tenderness and love.

What a sacrifice, to lay down His Life for us, that we may have eternal Life.

What an amazing Hope and Joy we have in Jesus.

Let us love one another, this Easter Triduum.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3: 16-17

“No one who ever meets Christ with a good will returns the same way as he came.” Bishop Fulton Sheen

“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn His face toward you
and give you peace.”

Numbers 6: 24-26