More Than Meets the Eye

First Reading: Acts  10:34 A, 37-43

Peter proceeded to speak and said:

“You know what has happened all over Judea,  beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached,  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.

This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 5:6B-8

Brothers and sisters:

Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,  not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,  but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

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!

Gospel: John 20:1-9

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter  and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,  “They have taken the Lord from the tomb,  and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter  and arrived at the tomb first;  he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,  and the cloth that had covered his head,  not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in,  the one who had arrived at the tomb first,  and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture  that he had to rise from the dead.

Reflection
By Bernard Borja

A group of friends had a mini reunion after 5 years of graduating. They were talking about their own achievements, sharing frustrations at work, giving advices to each other, and hearing stories about their other friends and classmates. One friend told the others that Job, one of their classmates, is already a successful entrepreneur and owns a new software company. Upon hearing this, they all laughed because they knew that Job failed 2 major subjects and how he could not afford to buy his own books during college. They made fun of Job while recalling how he was more than 5 years ago.

Marv, a former bank messenger, was walking on a hallway of a prestigious hotel in Makati. Suddenly, Mr. Mendoza, a staff he knew from where he worked before bumped onto him and recognized him saying, “Hey, Marv! Kamusta ka na? Bakit andito ka sa floor na ito? Dun ka dapat sa basement kasi nandun ang mailroom.” Marv just smiled and said, “Thank you!” Mr. Mendoza was waiting for his company’s conference to start as he suddenly hears the host welcoming the invited guest, “Everyone! Please welcome one of our new Executive Directors and Major Stockholder, Sir Marv Guilla!” Mr. Mendoza’s jaw dropped.

Maricel, a pet lover, visited her deceased pet at the nearby cemetery. When she arrived at the tomb of her beloved cat, she was surprised because the tomb was already taken down. She immediately went to the admin office of the cemetery but found no person to ask about what happened. Then she noticed a big memo at the doorstep which says, “Wala na po tayo renewal sa mga puntod. Pagkatapos po ng 6 months ay aalisin na po ang lumang puntod para magbigay daan sa panibagong puntod na magagamit ng mga bagong pumanaw. Puno na po kasi ang sementeryo. Maraming Salamat sa pagunawa.” Then Maricel said, “Ay oo nga. Naalala ko sinabi sa akin dati. Oh, well! Bye-bye kitty!”

Many times we only focus on what we understand and look at everything that will happen based on what we have seen in the past. This is not as bad as it seems but we might be missing the more important details when we look at life in this way.

Let’s just take the example of Mary Magdalene. She saw that the tomb was empty and thought that some people had taken the body of Jesus. Mary Magdalene did not focus on the resurrected Christ. She dwelt on the death of Jesus but not on what Jesus told them which is, He will rise again.

There are times when we dwell into our emptiness and almost lose hope because of what happened to us in the past. Most of the time we look at ourselves based on our failures. Maybe we like to look at ourselves like Job’s classmates look at him, or maybe we just forget that God has a wonderful plan for us.

God allows us to fail because He always uses our failures to lift us up. Even though we do not understand, He wants us to always respond in faith and focus on the risen Christ. Because at the end of our hardships, God will make us rise as Christ was raised to life.

Prayer

Dear Lord, Thank You for the promise of life for us especially the resurrected life we are looking forward to. May we focus more on Jesus Christ who has been raised again to life, that we may also experience the resurrection from every difficulties that we encounter. May we receive more of Your abundance as we hold on to our faith in Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.