things WE ALL need to know about Easter Sunday.... A:-What happened on Easter? Among other things: The women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus body. They saw angels, who told them he wasnt there. They went to tell the apostles, who initially didnt believe them. Peter and the beloved disciple rushed to see the tomb and found it empty. Mary Magdalen, in particular, had an encounter with the risen Christ. So did the disciples on the road to Emmaus. So did Peter. So did all the apostles except Thomas (who would have one later). Jesus had risen from the dead! B:-Was Jesus Resurrection a real, historical event or something else? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: 639 The mystery of Christs resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the New Testament bears witness. In about A.D. 56 St. Paul could already write to the Corinthians: “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. . .” The Apostle speaks here of the living tradition of the Resurrection which he had learned after his conversion at the gates of Damascus. C:-What significance to the post-Resurrection appearances of Christ have? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: 641 Mary Magdalene and the holy women who came to finish anointing the body of Jesus, which had been buried in haste because the Sabbath began on the evening of Good Friday, were the first to encounter the Risen One. Thus the women were the first messengers of Christs Resurrection for the apostles themselves. . . . 642 Everything that happened during those Paschal days involves each of the apostles - and Peter in particular - in the building of the new era begun on Easter morning. As witnesses of the Risen One, they remain the foundation stones of his Church. the faith of the first community of believers is based on the witness of concrete men known to the Christians and for the most part still living among them. Peter and the Twelve are the primary “witnesses to his Resurrection”, but they are not the only ones - Paul speaks clearly of more than five hundred persons to whom Jesus appeared on a single occasion and also of James and of all the apostles. 643 Given all these testimonies, Christs Resurrection cannot be interpreted as something outside the physical order, and it is impossible not to acknowledge it as an historical fact. D:-What significance does Christs Resurrection have for us? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: 651 “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” The Resurrection above all constitutes the confirmation of all Christs works and teachings. All truths, even those most inaccessible to human reason, find their justification if Christ by his Resurrection has given the definitive proof of his divine authority, which he had promised. 658 Christ, “the first-born from the dead” ( Col 1:18), is the principle of our own resurrection, even now by the justification of our souls (cf Rom 6:4), and one day by the new life he will impart to our bodies (cf Rom 8:11). E:-What is the role of the Paschal [i.e., Easter] candle? Paschales Solemnitatis explains: 99. The paschal candle has its proper place either by the ambo or by the altar and should be lit at least in all the more solemn liturgical celebrations of the season until Pentecost Sunday, whether at Mass, or at Morning and Evening Prayer. After the Easter season the candle should be kept with honor in the baptistry, so that in the celebration of Baptism the candles of the baptized may be lit from them. In the celebration of funerals, the paschal candle should be placed near the coffin to indicate that the death of a Christian is his own passover. The paschal candle should not otherwise be lit nor placed in the sanctuary outside the Easter season.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 13:44:18 +0000
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