IntroductionHappy Easter to all! Christ is risen! Christ is alive! He has conquered the world and has brought us to new life. This is what we are invited to celebrate everyday this week in the Octave of Easter. Since you have been raised up to be with Christ, you must look for the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at God's right hand. 2 Let your thoughts be on things above, not on the things that are on the earth, 3 because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. 4 But when Christ is revealed -- and he is your life-you, too, will be revealed with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4) We are people who live the Easter joy because we have experienced for ourselves the joy of Christ’s resurrection in our lives. A joy that no one and nothing can take away from us (Luke 10:42). This is the assurance and the promise of our Lord. This experience is real. The joy is real because Christ is real. This is what we believe. The reality is Christ (Colossians 2:17). He has won for us the victory and he calls us to share in this same victory. Let us go forth and proclaim with what we have witnessed. So that the whole world may see that in Christ, the victory has been won. Easter MondayHis life impels us onwards 8 Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And suddenly, coming to meet them, was Jesus. 'Greetings,' he said. And the women came up to him and, clasping his feet, they did him homage. 10 Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; there they will see me.' (Matthew 28:8-10) 16 Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. 17 When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. 18 Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.' (Matthew 28:16-20) Easter TuesdayThe children of God rests in the assurance of victory 11 But Mary was standing outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, as she wept, she stooped to look inside, 12 and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. 13 They said, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' 'They have taken my Lord away,' she replied, 'and I don't know where they have put him.' 14 As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not realise that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?' Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, 'Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.' 16 Jesus said, 'Mary!' She turned round then and said to him in Hebrew, 'Rabbuni!' -- which means Master. 17 Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' 18 So Mary of Magdala told the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord,' and that he had said these things to her. (John 20:11-18) 5 Terrified, the women bowed their heads to the ground. But the two said to them, 'Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? 6 He is not here; he has risen. (Luke 24:5-6) Easter WednesdayThe sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory revealed to us13 Now that very same day, two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking together about all that had happened. 15 And it happened that as they were talking together and discussing it, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; 16 but their eyes were prevented from recognising him. 17 He said to them, 'What are all these things that you are discussing as you walk along?' They stopped, their faces downcast. 18 Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, 'You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.' 19 He asked, 'What things?' They answered, 'All about Jesus of Nazareth, who showed himself a prophet powerful in action and speech before God and the whole people; 20 and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. 21 Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have now gone by since it all happened; 22 and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, 23 and when they could not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. 24 Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.' 25 Then he said to them, 'You foolish men! So slow to believe all that the prophets have said! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer before entering into his glory?' 27 Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself. 28 When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; 29 but they pressed him to stay with them saying, 'It is nearly evening, and the day is almost over.' So he went in to stay with them. 30 Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. 32 Then they said to each other, 'Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?' 33 They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, 34 who said to them, 'The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon.' 35 Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread. (Luke 24:13-35) Easter ThursdayBe an active giver in my Body 35 Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread. 36 They were still talking about all this when he himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you!' 37 In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. 38 But he said, 'Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts stirring in your hearts? 39 See by my hands and my feet that it is I myself. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.' 40 And as he said this he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, as they were dumbfounded; so he said to them, 'Have you anything here to eat?' 42 And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, 43 which he took and ate before their eyes. 44 Then he told them, 'This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, was destined to be fulfilled.' 45 He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, 'So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses to this. (Luke 24:35-48) Easter FridayFollow meLater on, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it happened like this: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said, 'I'm going fishing.' They replied, 'We'll come with you.' They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night. 4 When it was already light, there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus called out, 'Haven't you caught anything, friends?' And when they answered, 'No,' 6 he said, 'Throw the net out to starboard and you'll find something.' So they threw the net out and could not haul it in because of the quantity of fish. 7 The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord.' At these words, 'It is the Lord,' Simon Peter tied his outer garment round him (for he had nothing on) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net with the fish; they were only about a hundred yards from land. 9 As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. 10 Jesus said, 'Bring some of the fish you have just caught.' 11 Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there being so many the net was not broken. 12 Jesus said to them, 'Come and have breakfast.' None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, 'Who are you?'. They knew quite well it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish. 14 This was the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead. (John 21:1-14) Easter SaturdayWhy are you idle? Go to my vineyard 9 Having risen in the morning on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary of Magdala from whom he had cast out seven devils. 10 She then went to those who had been his companions, and who were mourning and in tears, and told them. 11 But they did not believe her when they heard her say that he was alive and that she had seen him. 12 After this, he showed himself under another form to two of them as they were on their way into the country. 13 These went back and told the others, who did not believe them either. 14 Lastly, he showed himself to the Eleven themselves while they were at table. He reproached them for their incredulity and obstinacy, because they had refused to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, 'Go out to the whole world; proclaim the gospel to all creation. (Mark 16:9-15) Easter SundayComments are closed.
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