EASTER TUESDAY READINGS AND REFLECTION.

EASTER TUESDAY READINGS AND REFLECTION.

EASTER TUESDAY MASS READINGS

READING I 
Acts 2:36–41 
On the day of Pentecost, Peter said to the Jewish people, “Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other Apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?” Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.” He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day. 
 
RESPONSORIAL PSALM 
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 
Or: Alleluia.
Misericórdia Dómini plena est terra.
Upright is the word of the Lord, 
and all his works are trustworthy. 
He loves justice and right; 
of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full. 
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 
Or: Alleluia.
Misericórdia Dómini plena est terra.
See, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him, 
upon those who hope for his kindness, 
To deliver them from death 
and preserve them in spite of famine. 
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 
Or: Alleluia.
Misericórdia Dómini plena est terra.
Our soul waits for the Lord, 
who is our help and our shield. 
May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us 
who have put our hope in you. 
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 
Or: Alleluia.
Misericórdia Dómini plena est terra. 
[–»  Alleluia]
 
Optional: Sequence
 
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems: Christ,
who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in
that combat stupendous: 
The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living,
The glory of Jesus’ resurrection;
Bright angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen:
To Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen,
our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning! 
Amen. Alleluia. 
 
ALLELUIA
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
 
GOSPEL 
Jn 20:11–18 
Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he had told her.

GOSPEL COMMENTARY FROM THE NAVARRE BIBLE, ST. JOHN (WITH PERMISSION)

• 11-18 Mary’s affection and sensitivity lead her to be concerned about what has become of the dead body of Jesus. This woman out of whom seven demons were cast (cf. Lk 8:2) stayed faithful during his Passion and even now her love is still ardent: our Lord had freed her from the Evil One and she responded to that grace humbly and generously.
  • After consoling Mary Magdalene, Jesus gives her a message for the Apostles, whom he tenderly calls his “brethren”. This message implies that he and they have the same Father, though each in an essentially different way: “I am ascending to my Father” — my own father by nature — “and to your Father” — for he is your father through the adoption I have won for you by my death. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, shows his great mercy and understanding by gathering together all his disciples who had abandoned him during his Passion and were now in hiding for fear of the Jews (Jn 20:19).
  • Mary Magdalene’s perseverance teaches us that anyone who sincerely keeps searching for Jesus Christ will eventually find him. Jesus’ gesture in calling his disciples his “brethren” despite their having run away should fill us with love in the midst of our own infidelities.
• 15 From Jesus’ dialogue with Mary Magdalene, we can see the frame of mind all his disciples must have been in: they were not expecting the Resurrection.
• 17 “Do not hold me”: the use of the negative imperative in the Greek, reflected in the New Vulgate (“noli me tenere”) indicates that our Lord is telling Mary to release her hold on him, to let him go, since she will have another chance to see him before his Ascension into heaven.

GOSPEL COMMENTARY 2

Commentary

The sadness and loneliness of Mary Magdalene in this scene is very moving. She had already been there early in the morning and seen the empty tomb. Thinking that someone had removed our Lord’s body, she hurried to give this sad news to Peter and the beloved disciple. The two of them came running, but now they have left, and Mary remains next to the empty tomb in tears, thinking she has lost the lifeless body of her Lord.

So great is her sadness that she fails to grasp the wonder of the two angels sitting in the tomb, nor does she even recognize the Teacher’s voice when he speaks to her. But when the one she thinks is the gardener calls her by her name, Mary joyfully responds: “Rabboni! (which means Teacher).” Jesus had been for Mary the divine Physician who freed her from seven demons (cf. Lk 8:2). Now, next to the tomb, he is her Good Shepherd, the one who “calls his own sheep by name and leads them out . . . for they know his voice” (Jn 10:3.4). Mary who had wept bitterly is now comforted (cf.Mt 5:4). And Jesus now has to restrain Mary, who doesn’t want to let go of his feet and risk losing him again. He tells her to go and announce the joyful news to his brethren. Before Mary had announced the false news of the theft of Christ’s body from the tomb. Now she will announce the truth: that she has seen the living Lord, who has told her that he will ascend to the Father.

Mary is an example of a person who eagerly seeks the Lord, like the beloved in the Canticle of Canticles: “Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.” But when Mary’s trial of having lost Christ ends, she can cry out: “I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go” (Song, 3:1.4). In a world in which the presence of God can seem hidden, Mary’s persevering search is an example to us not to falter in our good deeds each day, where the Risen Jesus awaits us and calls us. And so we too, with our faith renewed, are apostles like Mary Magdalene. She was the first to announce Christ’s resurrection, an ever-new truth that still needs to be announced to the whole world.

Josep Boira

Source: https://opusdei.org/en-us/gospel/2025-04-22/

VIDEO REFLECTION
TOPIC: HAVE YOU SEEN WHOM YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IN YOUR LIFE?

In today’s gospel reading, Mary Magdalene seems to have stayed on after Peter and John have left an empty tomb. She is grieving for having lost her friend and master and asks the two angels who appear where Jesus has been taken away.As she turns around, she sees Jesus but does not recognize Him. The two men on their way to Emmaus, the disciples themselves – including Thomas – all of them also did not recognize the resurrected Jesus at first instance. Jesus asks Mary Magdalene, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” (verse 15)

Stay updated: subscribe by email for free TO OUR NEW WEBSITE www.catholicsstrivingforholiness.org (PUT YOUR EMAIL IN THE SUBSCRIBE WIDGET).
We are also in www.fb.com/Catholicsstrivingforholiness. Kindly help more people in their Christian life by liking our page and inviting your family, friends and relatives to do so as well. Thanks in advance and God bless you and your loved ones! Fr. Rolly Arjonillo