Early weeks of Easter. Easter is a season of joy and life. By his death, Christ has liberated us from sin; and by his resurrection he opens for us the way to a new life. So many people fear death as the “unknown” but as you understand the kingdom and hope in God’s merciful judgement, fear is replaced by expectation and joy. All life centers on the resurrection of Jesus. This presentation covers Easter and the first weeks of Easter. Originally broadcast on KDUA Catholic Radio and Padua Media. Continue reading for script and other notes. Audio Link: April-C
SCRIPT
Patti Brunner: Welcome to Living Seasons of Change. I’m Patti Brunner and my co-host today is Msgr. David LeSieur. Easter is a season of joy, a season of life. By his death, Christ has liberated us from sin; and by his Resurrection he opens for us the way to a new life[i]. So many fear death as the “unknown” but as you understand the kingdom and hope in God’s merciful judgement, fear is replaced by expectation and joy. All life centers on the Resurrection of Jesus.
Monsignor David LeSieur: In Romans Chapter 8, St. Paul talks about how all creation will be redeemed. We are actually experiencing re-creation. We are experiencing new life in baptism. At the Easter vigil we are remembering our baptism, which is when we begin to come back to life. New life happens in Christ. We don’t have to wait until the end of our lives to die physically and go to heaven. We don’t have to wait for that; it is happening right now. We celebrate that new life at Easter, Christ’ resurrection, because we have been baptized into Christ’ death and resurrection; it’s our resurrection, too.
Patti Brunner: In the span of a few short days of Holy Week we have the extremes sorrow of the crucifixion and the passion and then the sorrow flips immediately to the season of joy. It’s like the sum total of Jesus’ suffering, the entire point of Jesus’ life, brings us life on Easter. The whole purpose of the church year centers around what took place at Easter, where death is conquered and heaven is won.
Monsignor David LeSieur: Jesus died on Good Friday, and everything seemed loss; everything that had been built up, not only his popularity but the hope that He was the Messiah. Everybody who believed in him and followed him had thought “he’s the one; he will solve all our problems.” And the disciples themselves, who knew him best, were huddled together in the upper room, afraid.
It all seemed to have just gone down the drain. By Sunday morning, less than 48 hours later, it all began to change. It all came back, and more than they had lost. What Jesus brought back to life was not just a resuscitated body; that would have to die again; He brought back new life, a changed life.
Patti Brunner: In the first reading of Easter from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10, we have Peter sharing the whole Gospel in a nutshell.[ii] He explains: who what when where and why. Just like a good reporter! The Gospel started in Galilee after the baptism that John preached; how God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power; Jesus went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil; that he was crucified and raised on the third day. In the completion of the witness, Peter explains that Jesus commissioned them to witness that Jesus is the one appointed by God to judge the living and the dead and that those who believe in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.[iii] This is an excellent passage to proclaim the Gospel in very few words.
Monsignor David LeSieur: His speech is to Cornelius the Centurion who is converting. It’s more than 50 days after the Resurrection that Peter speaks his words. Remember, at first Peter was among those who did not understand, then with the coming of the Spirit, he has this perspective. It’s not just the perspective of 50 days of prayer, thought and discussion; The Spirit’s coming on Pentecost has sealed it for him and helped him understand how it all fit together.
Contribution by the Apostles
Patti Brunner: To help us understand, the Lord uses the apostles a lot in sharing the process[iv]. We can look at the apostles and see their transformation and how they have “become a fresh batch of dough”[v]. We identify with their weaknesses, especially Peter’s, and have hope through their transformation.
Monsignor David LeSieur: It is a comforting thing. Peter chiefly among all. He is always the first person named on the list of the apostles. He is the one that Jesus went to first. He must have trusted him a lot.
Patti Brunner: He chose him as the leader.
Monsignor David LeSieur: He did, in spite of his bumblings. Peter was also quite brave. In Matthew’s Gospel he got out of the boat and started walking on water; just in case it was Jesus. He didn’t know if it was Jesus or not. He said, “If it is you call to me and I’ll come across the water.”[vi] He wasn’t sure
Patti Brunner: A mix of doubt, and faith.
Monsignor David LeSieur: He walked on water for a few steps before he sank. The apostles process of learning, their bits of starts and stumbling, their sinfulness, their running away shows us that they were human yet they were forgiven.
Patti Brunner: In the Easter reading the apostles say “we are witnesses of all he did” and we are commissioned to preach[vii]. This shows their purpose and our purpose to be witnesses.
Monsignor David LeSieur: We process the information of faith, the data of faith, that we receive, and live what we believe. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Bible are full of data, full of information. You can read it, you can memorize it. You can quote it; but until it gets into your heart, until it helps interpret our raw experiences of faith, it’s hard to be a real witness.
Patti Brunner: So, you could be a teacher without being a witness.
Monsignor David LeSieur: You sure can. You can teach that Bible. You can quote it. And yet say, “I teach this very well, but I’m not living it here”. I think what happened with the disciples made them good witnesses. They were lucky to have walked with the Lord face-to-face, but that doesn’t matter.
Patti Brunner: That’s right! Paul, who did not walk with Jesus, is one of our greatest witnesses. His conversion experience was with the risen Christ.
Monsignor David LeSieur: And we have Thomas, Jesus said to Thomas “blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed”[viii] That’s us! We have not seen, yet we believe. The more we process our raw experience of life in terms of our faith; and let Jesus or the Holy Spirit explain it to us the way he did on the road to Emmaus; the way the Spirit helped them understand after Pentecost; what it all meant; then when we say “that’s happened me too! I’ve had an experience of the living Christ in my life” and then we can witness. Otherwise, we are still sharing the word of God with people, it’s okay; maybe just not with the conviction of the apostles
Turning from denial to affirmation
Patti Brunner: We hear a story of Peter on the third Sunday of the Easter season. The apostles are out fishing and we have Jesus coming to the seashore. Jesus has been raised from the dead but the apostles don’t know what to do about it yet. They went back to what they knew, back to fishing. Jesus called them to the shore and he asked Peter three times “do you love me?”[ix] It’s like the flipside of the three denials of Peter; Jesus is leading him towards being ready to accept the Holy Spirit.
Monsignor David LeSieur: It is like Jesus led him through an apology. I think it is interesting that at the end of those three questions, Peter begins to be a little discouraged, Peter says, “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you.” At the end of the third time Jesus said, “Follow me.” I’ve always thought it was interesting that Peter met Jesus in Chapter 1 of John’s Gospel and now here we are in Chapter 21 and Jesus says the same thing “follow me”. I think what that means is that, “Peter, You were my follower once, but you denied me, and you have been through hell, you wept, you saw me die, you went through all of that. And now that you’re wiser, I want you to follow me with this new knowledge that you have. I think Peter was able to process his failure to the Lord after he wept.
Patti Brunner: We all go through that, our sin is a constant denial of Christ and then our repentance affirms our love for him. It’s affirming that God is good. We are weak yet he strengthens us. It happens over and over.
Monsignor David LeSieur: I think so. Every time we go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus says “follow me”. It is not forgetting our sinfulness, not forgetting our mistakes, but learning from them. Not that we dwell on them or experience doubt and guilt about them over and over, but to say “okay, I will learn from that.” Now with knowledge of having failed Jesus in that way, and having experienced his forgiveness, I can follow him in a new way, on a deeper level, because I understand better how weak I am and how strong he is. And that is why I follow him. It could be every day that we have to follow him; I think that’s what Jesus was saying to Peter, “follow me with this new knowledge, this deeper understanding of who you are and who I am.”
Role of leadership
Patti Brunner: Jesus singled Peter out as the leader to teach us about Reconciliation. In the fifth week of Easter, in Acts, we see where the apostles appoint elders and call the church together to report[x]. It shows us how important the leadership is from the very beginning of the early church. It is important to have leaders, to have leaders chosen by faith, by ability and certainly through the strength of the Holy Spirit.
Monsignor David LeSieur: We see Jesus’ appointment of Peter. He was chosen very specifically in Matthew’s Gospel[xi] Chapter 16, Jesus says “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church”, a bit later In John’s Gospel[xii] when he says “feed the sheep”, and in Luke’s Gospel chapter 22[xiii], Jesus says “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” Peter is obviously chosen by Jesus for leadership despite his weaknesses.
The Empty Tomb * True death [xiv]/True life
Patti Brunner: Peter is the first to enter the tomb[xv] in John’s Gospel. In Luke’s Gospel, which is part of the Easter vigil, the women find the empty tomb and there are Angels[xvi] there announcing that Jesus is risen. The tomb itself is a symbolism of death. We believe that Jesus truly died[xvii]. “His death put an end to his earthly human existence”[xviii]. Then the emptiness of the tomb shows us that he is alive and that he truly conquered death. He appeared to certain people, but everyone could go by and see the empty tomb. In the creed we truly profess that Jesus died. And if we relate that to our own lives, we truly die. However, we can truly live in him.
Monsignor David LeSieur: We die physically at the end of life, but before that we die in lots of ways. We are baptized into Christ’ death so that we can share the resurrection. Often at funerals I like to use the passage from Romans 6[xix], about being baptized into Christ Jesus so that we can share his life. The day this person who died was baptized, he began to die in Christ. Everything they experienced in life, especially the cross, any suffering, losses or disappointments are somehow part of the death of Jesus. And the day they die they fulfill their participation in his death so that they can share his life. When you and I or any of us suffer, we are sharing in the death of Christ and the cross. And often enough, we do not like to suffer. We complain about it, but if we think about it what it really means, if we process the meaning of everything we experience, we can look back and see how that fits together. Maybe 20 years after the fact we can say, “I can see what God was doing now”. Sufferings have a tremendous meaning; I am not saying that God makes us suffer; I think suffering happens because we’re human, and because this life is not perfect, but God brings good out from all of it. He’s with us throughout all of it.
Patti Brunner: We can recognize the tremendous flow of grace, if we really examine those times. God overcomes our pain and suffering by bringing good from it[xx].
Monsignor David LeSieur: We want to get out of a hospital as soon as we can and get on with our lives. But like you said, there’s a tremendous fullness of grace to recognize. For example, we began to see we had the best doctor. Or, perhaps, the illness brought us closer to a member of our family; there are all sorts of little gifts that come from something like that.
Patti Brunner: Sometimes people receive their divine healing in death and receive the ultimate gift: to see God. The Holy Spirit can give us perspective; time to sift our faith to the experiences of our lives and deaths. Easter give us a perspective of all death, to help us understand that death is part of the process. It is not the end; it’s just a process until we have the resurrection. Death is part of life and the best is yet to come.
Monsignor David LeSieur: That’s right! Death is part of living. Death, as sad as it is, humanly speaking it’s terribly sad, it’s not the end. We truly believe it leads to another life. Maybe you’ve heard the comparison of birth to death. As a baby in the womb we are in our own little world. We are very comfortable in it but we’re not made to stay in the womb for more than nine months. When the time comes to be born we resist. It is very different. It is bright, it’s noisy. Yet, that’s what you’re born for, that’s what you are made for, to live outside the womb. Metaphorically, that’s what heaven is; we don’t want to leave this life, because it’s like the womb; we’re somewhat comfortable. It is all we know, and yet going through the birth canal of death into a brighter light is being born into the new life that we were really, really intended for.
Talk a little about John’s vision especially the Lamb of God references.[xxi]
Patti Brunner: In the book Revelation, which we will be hearing through the whole Easter season, John has a vision and he talks about seeing the new heaven and the new earth[xxii] where there is no more death. . John had the vision written down as Revelation in his later life when he was 80 years old. It kind of tells the story of salvation in terms that are very poetic and in terms of things that we don’t quite understand. But yet he talks about the Lamb, calling Jesus the Lamb of the sacrifice, and “worthy is the lamb”, and the “Saints have their robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb”.
Monsignor David LeSieur: It sounds like an impossibility. The image of the lamb is definitely a sacrificial image. John the Baptist, mentioned in the first chapter of John’s Gospel, says, “There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” I think any Jew who read that or to whom John spoke would realize that the lamb is a sacrificial animal that dies for forgiveness. The Jews sacrificed lambs for forgiveness. Only it wasn’t enough; they had sin offerings and atonement offerings and the scapegoat. The book of Revelation is highly symbolic, and intentionally so. It is a book of consolation. It provided consolation for persecuted Christians in that period of the Church’s history, when John was writing during the first century. Towards the end of the first century there was much of persecution. Nero persecuted and the emperor after him. John is writing this to his fellow Christians to encourage them, to say that the Lamb has already defeated the devil and it’s just a matter of time before the results of that victory is known all over. The devil has been defeated but he is still dangerous. He’s like a chained dog; if you get within the radius of his chain, you’re going to get bit. The devil, though, is defeated; he is still a very dangerous power. But he has to submit to the Lamb of God who has sacrificed for our sins.
Patti Brunner: I have seen some Protestant preachers that seem to preach the book of Revelation constantly.
Monsignor David LeSieur: Well, they think it’s the end times. And that may well be. However, the end times may last a million years, for that matter.
Patti Brunner: The Catechism says the end times started with the coming of Jesus[xxiii]. That’s where we entered the end times. During the Easter season, we don’t really hear a lot of the end time prophecies from the book of Revelation as much as we are hearing of the glory; the glory of the victory. I think that in most of the readings that we have of Revelation it talks about heaven or the kingdom come, the beauty of what we have to look forward to.
Monsignor David LeSieur: And the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven; no more death; all things are new. Yeah, that’s what Easter is all about: Renewal of God’s people. It’s re-creation. And baptism is re-creation; it’s our second birth.
Blessed are you who have not seen but believe; Glorified body attributes
Patti Brunner: Earlier you said the quote “blessed are you who have not seen but believe”[xxiv]. We hear that the second week of Easter, which is also Divine Mercy Sunday. When Jesus appeared to the apostles, he came through the closed, locked doors. So what are some of the glorified body attributes, to be able to walk through doors? There has got to be more than that!
Monsignor David LeSieur: Jesus could eat too. In Luke, chapter 24, he said “Have you anything here to eat?” And they gave him fish and he ate it in their midst.
Patti Brunner: He ate fish in the John’s Gospel[xxv], too, when he brought Peter up on the seashore. Jesus cooked fish for them and had some bread.
Patti Brunner: I think what this is saying is that he is still human. He still has a body, although a glorified body. To me the attributes of a glorified body are that you are not bound by space and time as much as we are here. He vanished from their site in Luke’s Gospel. He walked along with them, talked with them, broke bread with them and vanished. Also, there are attributes of non-recognition.
Patti Brunner: Yes, like on the road to Emmaus they did not recognize him. When Mary was at the tomb, she thought that he was the gardener. So there is some aspect of non-recognition, of looking different. Perhaps our body is perfect, that there’s a perfection that changes our physical appearance.
Monsignor David LeSieur: It’s interesting on the road to Emmaus in Luke. They didn’t recognize him by looking at him or by what he said. They recognized him in an action; the breaking of the bread tipped them off. In this action, Jesus was present to them. Every time we break the bread and drink the cup at Mass, we recognize Jesus in our actions. Luke is showing us how Jesus is sacramentally present in the bread and wine. Luke is writing 50 years after Jesus ascended into heaven, thus his community understood the sacramental presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. It’s in the action and in doing what he did; doing what he told us to do.
Doubts of Thomas. Our doubts
Patti Brunner: Obedience is always important. We really hear a lot the second week of Easter, including the doubts of Thomas[xxvi] and we can all identify with Thomas.
Monsignor David LeSieur: You know, Thomas was honest at least. They all doubted in some way.
Patti Brunner: After the resurrection the rest the apostles, Thomas’ comrades, are behind the locked doors; then they see the risen Jesus and then Thomas comes in later and they tell Thomas and he doesn’t believe them, even though they are eyewitness. How often have we talked to people of the Gospel message and of our own spiritual experiences where we’ve been transformed and yet fail to get through to them? We are true witnesses. But if they have not had the personal experience with Jesus, they have doubt. They don’t get it.
Monsignor David LeSieur: They don’t get it. And sometimes we do that too. People who have had a deep experience of Jesus will tell us what happened, a healing or something, and we will say “well that’s nice”. And yet those things really happen. People do get healed by the risen Christ. Things do happen to people lives that they want to share, which sometimes falls on deaf ears. Thomas didn’t believe his brothers. He didn’t believe the Good News. They were preaching, in a sense, they were saying “we have seen the risen Lord”. He said, “I will believe it when I see it” and we all do that. John’s gospel is speaking of the human experience, saying there are a lot of people who do not believe this message.
Patti Brunner: And there are probably a lot of people that show up at church every week that still have doubts.
Monsignor David LeSieur: Yes, they are not sure, but they come, they show up like Thomas did the next week. They keep coming because the next time they might see him, they might see Jesus. 36.39. I think it is interesting that Thomas came back. He could have said, “You guys are all wet I’m leaving.” But you know he came back the next week.
Sunday-the celebration of Easter every Sunday
Patti Brunner: The hope was there. The hope is there. The Catechism[xxvii] reminds us that “The Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life.” “Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated.” You can check the website Patriarch Ministries.com for the Catechism reference. It’s almost like we have Easter every Sunday!
Monsignor David LeSieur: It is a Calvary-Easter event. You’re right, Patti. We always have a crucifix present whenever we have Mass. That crucifix tells us that the Eucharist (the Mass) and the death of Christ are closely intertwined. We hear, “this is my body that will be given up for you, this is my blood that that will be shed for you” and that happened on the cross. The body and blood were separated in death and so they are consecrated separately. Right before communion the priest puts a little particle of the Host into the cup into the Precious Blood symbolizing the resurrection, the coming back to life of the resurrected body of Christ that we are now going to share the Eucharist. It is a Calvary Easter event. It is not re-created. It is a continuing. We enter into the eternity of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Many do not understand this sacrifice. They say “you’re re-sacrificing Christ every time you have mass” and the answer is “no, we don’t”. We simply re-present the same one sacrifice throughout history. It is still going on go now, and has never ceased.
Teaching of the Church Fathers; Sabbath-Jewish, Sunday-Christians
Patti Brunner: That’s right! On the Fourth Sunday of Easter we hear in Acts 13 about Paul and Barnabas going into the synagogue on the Jewish Sabbath[xxviii]. They are participating in the Sabbath which starts Fridays at sundown to Saturday at sundown. In the 10 Commandments God commanded us to keep holy the Lord’s Day, to keep holy the Sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath is a very important to Jews. Yet Christians have switched to Sundays, since Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, which was Sunday
Monsignor David LeSieur: St. Justin, one of the early Christian writers, who wrote in about 160 about the Eucharist. He explains why the early Christian community made the switch. In the catechism we can find that quote of St. Justin the martyr from his first apology[xxix]
”We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish Sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.”
That is why we celebrate Mass on Sunday. God created the world on what we would call Sunday. He re-created it on the day of his resurrection, Easter Sunday.
Father & I (Jesus) are One; The Trinity Unity
Patti Brunner: On the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Jesus says “the Father and I are one”.[xxx] On the Fifth Sunday the Gospel tells us how the Son of Man is glorified in God and God is glorified in him[xxxi]. It shows the unity of God the Father and God the son. Jesus continues explaining this in John Chapter 14, then explains the proceeds of the flow of living water from him, and the gift of the Spirit to the believers[xxxii]. Thus we’re introduced to the Trinity. The Trinity is really beyond our comprehension. One time I taught about the Trinity to young teenagers. We were preparing for the Jubilee year and I helped them make a little Jubilee candle to light. I took the candle and told them that the Trinity is like a lit candle. The candle has the flame, the heat and the light. Each thing is separate, each thing is different, and yet it’s all the same thing.
Monsignor David LeSieur: I have never heard that analogy of the Trinity, but it’s good.
Receive the Holy Spirit; Ordination of apostles; (John) Later the whole Church receives Holy Spirit (Luke) but must have leaders in place to minister to the Church
Patti Brunner: And the Holy Spirit is connected to the forgiveness of sins. In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells them “receive the Holy Spirit”[xxxiii] and “whose sins you will forgive they are forgiven.” Luke shows the 120 disciples receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost after the Ascension. Luke later shows the leaders were helping converts receive the Holy Spirit. Do you think John is pointing to the importance of the leadership receiving the Holy Spirit?
Monsignor David LeSieur: Certainly in John’s version of the Pentecost right on Easter Sunday evening, the forgiveness of sins is associated with receiving of the Holy Spirit and leadership in the Church.
Transformation
Patti Brunner: We see the changes that took place in the Apostles when, on the second Sunday of Easter, in the Book of Acts we’re told about how the apostles went about healing everyone and that even the shadow[xxxiv] of Peter healed people. We have the transformation of Jesus going from death to life, and then we have the transformation of the apostles going from fear to boldness.
Monsignor David LeSieur: Yes and there is a deep transformation here, Patti. Jesus would not leave the Church in the charge of people who were not inspired. You know that shadow, it occurs to me you don’t cast a shadow unless there is a light on the other side. It is like Jesus is the light that creates the shadow of Peter.
Mystical Body with us; As you conclude this program again repeat the joy that awaits after physical death—spiritual life.
He is Risen. We shall rise with him.
Patti Brunner: He can create a shadow on me any day! The signs and wonders which are reported in Acts continue today. Earlier I mentioned Paul’s transformation when the glorified Jesus spoke to him.[xxxv] We may not see the bright light but we have Christ’s Mystical Body within us each time we take communion; each time we participate in the Sacraments. And, particularly for those of us who live with constant struggles, we await in hope the joy that will be ours, even if we have to wait until after our physical death. Jesus is risen. We shall rise with him and live! Monsignor, thank you so much for being with me today. Will you close our program with your blessing?
Monsignor David LeSieur: Blessing:
References
CCC 654 Paschal mystery has two aspects
Easter Sunday Acts 10:34a, 37-43 the Gospel in a “nutshell”
3rd Sunday of Easter Acts 5:27b-32, 40b-41 “obey God rather than men” witnessing
Easter Sunday 1 Cor 5:6b-8 “clear out old yeast” “become a fresh batch of dough”
Matthew 14:23-33 Peter and Jesus walking on water
Easter Sunday Acts 10: 37-43 witnesses, commission
2nd Sunday of Easter John 20: 19-31 “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
3rd Sunday of Easter John 21:1-19 Peter asked 3times “Do you love me?”
5th Sunday of Easter Acts 14:21-27 appointed elders, called church together and reported
Matthew 16 18-19 you are Peter
Matthew 21: 15-17 do you love me
Luke 22: 31-32 once you have turned back
As real death: CCC 619,627,629
CCC 619 “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3).CCC 627 Christ’s death was a real death
2nd Sunday of Easter John 20:1-9 Peter enters the tomb
Easter Sunday afternoon Luke 24:1-12 w/Angels
3rd Sunday of Easter Acts 5:27b-32, 40b-41 “killed by hanging him on a tree”
Easter Vigil Romans 6: 1-11
CCC 312, 313, 311 bringing good from consequences of bad
5th Sunday of Easter Revelation 21:1-5a “a new heaven and a new earth”
2nd Sunday of Easter John 20:19-31
3rd Sunday of Easter John 21:1-19 Jesus charcoal fire on shore
2nd Sunday of Easter John 20:19-31
CCC 2174, 2168-2178 Sunday
Program Key Points Outline
Contribution by the Apostles
Turning from denial to affirmation
Role of leadership
The Empty Tomb
True death/True life
Blessed are you who have not seen but believe
Glorified body attributes
Doubts of Thomas
Our doubts
Sunday-the celebration of Easter every Sunday
Teaching of the Church Fathers
Sabbath-Jewish
Sunday-Christians
Father & Jesus are One
The Trinity Unity
Receive the Holy Spirit
Ordination of apostles (John)
Whole Church receives Holy Spirit
Transformation
Mystical Body with us
Joy awaits after physical death—spiritual life.
He is Risen. We shall rise with him.
John’s vision; the Lamb of God (Revelation)
106-C Season of Joy -Easter References and Resources:Please note that CCC refers to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, English translation, 2nd Edition,©1994, 1997. United States Catholic Conference, Inc., Libreria Editrice Vaticana. [see link]New American Bible (NAB) readings are referenced from the Lectionary for Mass, for use in the dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition ©1997, 1970 by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. [see link]Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright ©1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
[i] CCC 654 Paschal mystery has two aspects
[ii] Easter: Acts 10:34a, 37-43: Gospel in a nutshell
[iii] Acts 10:34a, 37-43 the Gospel in a “nutshell”
[iv] 3rd Acts 5:27b-32, 40b-41 “obey God rather than men” witnessing
[v] Easter 1 Cor 5:6b-8 “clear out old yeast” “become a fresh batch of dough”
[vi] Matthew ?? Peter and Jesus walking on water
[vii] Acts 10: 37-43 witnesses, commission
[viii] John 20: 19-31 “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
[ix] John 21:1-19 Peter asked 3times “Do you love me?”
[x] 5th Acts 14:21-27 appointed elders, called church together and reported
[xi] Matthew 16 18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, * and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. *
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
[xii] Mt 21: 15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” (Jesus) said to
him, “Feed my sheep.”
[xiii] Luke 22: 31 “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.”
[xiv] As real death: CCC 619,627,629
619 “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3).
627 Christ’s death was a real death in that it put an end to his earthly human existence. But because of the union which the person of the Son retained with his body, his was not a mortal corpse like others, for “it was not possible for death to hold him”470 and therefore “divine power preserved Christ’s body from corruption.”471 Both of these statements can be said of Christ: “He was cut off out of the land of the living,”472 and “My flesh will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your Holy One see corruption.”473 Jesus’ Resurrection “on the third day” was the sign of this also, because bodily decay was held to begin on the fourth day after death.474
629 To the benefit of every man, Jesus Christ tasted death (cf. Heb 2:9). It is truly the Son of God made man who died and was buried.
[xv] John 20:1-9 Peter enters the tomb
[xvi] Luke 24:1-12 w/Angels
[xvii] Acts 5:27b-32, 40b-41 “killed by hanging him on a tree”
[xviii] CCC627
[xix] Romans 6: 1-11
Romans Chapter 6. 1 * What then shall we say? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? Of course not! 2 How can we who died to sin yet live in it? 3 Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. 5 For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin. 7 For a dead person has been absolved from sin. 8 If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. 10 As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. 11 Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as
(being) dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.
[xx] CCC 312, 313, 311 bringing good from consequences of bad
[xxi] 2nd Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13,17-19
3rd Revelation 5:11-14 “worthy is the lamb“
4th Revelation 7:9, 14b-17 “wearing white robes” washed “white in the blood of the Lamb”
5th Revelation 21:1-5a “a new heaven and a new earth” “no more death” “all things new”
6th Revelation 21: 10-14, 22-23 “city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven”
[xxii] 5th Revelation 21:1-5a “a new heaven and a new earth” “no more death” “all things new”
[xxiii] CCC end times
[xxiv] John 20:19-31
[xxv] John 21:1-19 Jesus charcoal fire on shore
[xxvi] John 20:19-31
[xxvii] CCC 2174, 2168-2178 Sunday reference
[xxviii] Acts 13:14, 43-52
[xxix] CCC2174 “” St. Justin, I Apol.
[xxx] John 10:27-30 The Father and I are one”
[xxxi] John 13:31-33a, 34-35 “Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him”
[xxxii] John 7:38-39 glorification must precede the “flow of living water” from him, the gift of the Spirit to believers
[xxxiii] John 20:19-31 Receive the Holy Spirit
[xxxiv] Acts 5:12-16 signs and wonders, Peter’s shadow
[xxxv] Acts 9:1-22; Acts 22:3-16
