Daily Gospel Reflection: Monday in the Octave of Easter
Bishop Robert Barron
Monday in the Octave of Easter
April 1, 2024
Gospel: Mt 28:8-15
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce the news to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee,
and there they will see me.”
While they were going, some of the guard went into the city
and told the chief priests all that had happened.
The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel;
then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
telling them, “You are to say,
‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’
And if this gets to the ears of the governor,
we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.
And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.
*United States Conference of Catholic
Bishop Robert Barron
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary encounter the risen Jesus. I know that I have harped often on this theme, but I do so only because the Bible harps on it—and also because the culture tends so thoroughly to miss the point. I’m talking about the meaning of Easter. Many people agree with David Cameron, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, who once said that the message of Easter is “kindness, compassion, hard work, and responsibility.”
Now don’t get me wrong: I’m for all of those things. But so is, I would guess, any decent person from any religious or non-religious background. Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, fair-minded atheists and agnostics would all sign on for those values.
None of it is getting anywhere near the heart of what Easter really means. What Easter means is that Jesus of Nazareth, who claimed throughout his public life to be speaking and acting in the very person of God, and who was brutally put to death by Roman executioners, rose bodily from the dead. That’s what it’s all about.
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