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Holy Saturday at the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter Mass Readings
Reading 1: Genesis 1:1-2:2 or Genesis 1:1, 26-31A
Responsorial: Psalm 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12-14, 24, 35 or Psalm 33:4-7, 12-13, 20, 22
Reading 2: Genesis 22:1-18 or Genesis 22:1-2, 9A, 10-13, 15-18
Responsorial: Psalm 16:5, 8-11
Reading 3: Exodus 14:15-15:1
Responsorial: Exodus 15:1-6, 17-18
Reading 4: Isaiah 54:5-14
Responsorial: Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13
Reading 5: Isaiah 55:1-11
Responsorial: Isaiah 12:2-6
Reading 6: Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4:4
Responsorial: Psalm 19:8-11
Reading 7: Ezekiel 36:16-17A, 18-28
Responsorial: Psalm 42:3, 5; 43:3, 4 or Isaiah 12:2-3, 4BCD, 5-6 or Psalm 51:12-15, 18-19
Epistle: Romans 6:3-11
Responsorial: Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Gospel: Mark 16:1-7
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040321.cfm
https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org/
Happy Easter! He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia! I’m Deacon Rudy Villarreal and I’m so glad to share this time with you as we break open the Word!
A brother deacon of mine told me recently that he has either served at or assisted with one to two funerals a week, every week for the past year. Half of those funerals were due to COVID. There is no question that this time of pandemic has been difficult for so many people regardless of whether you think things have been handled well or not. But death, I imagine, has been especially difficult. How many deaths might have been preventable if it weren’t for politics? How many people had to die alone, I wonder? And the sad truth of it is that the pandemic is not over yet.
What comfort does all the ritual of Holy Week and Easter offer those who mourn? What comfort does Easter offer? Let’s explore Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection to show how these events relate to lives of people.
Today is the Great Vigil of Easter! Now, these aren’t just some bedtime stories we tell to pass the time until Easter dinner, with tons of chocolate, and easter egg hunts. No! There’s so much more going on. As we listened to the Scriptures and we walked through the events of this most Holy Week, I invite you to stop and think about how we got here to the Easter Vigil. I mean, just last week, we celebrated Palm Sunday. And as we heard in what is typically the first reading proclaimed outside before the procession, the people yelled, “Hosanna!” (11:9), and they spread their cloaks and leafy branches on the road to make way for Jesus! (11:8). The people were cheering and applauding and celebrating! They treated him like a rock star!
Can you imagine what it must have felt like to be one of Jesus’ closest disciples as that scene unfolded? I bet excitement and joy filled the disciples at the way the crowd received their teacher! What a moment!
And then, just a few days later – they crucified him. They stripped Jesus of his dignity, and they nailed him to a cross. There he hung in the air like a criminal until he died a most torturous death.
How do you think the eleven disciples felt? We can’t be sure because they weren’t there! Where were they? They were hiding! I mean, Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter denied Jesus. Their whole world collapsed. So now what?
Just a little earlier in Mark before the reading we heard proclaimed today, Mark tells us that two women who followed Jesus in Galilee were there at the crucifixion. Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James and Salome. They witnessed the horror of Jesus’ death. They saw where they laid Jesus to rest. For some reason, they decided to go to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body. Maybe they felt Joseph had rushed things Friday night. The women didn’t realize Jesus has already been “anointed beforehand for burial” by another woman the night before the Last Supper (14:3-8). <1>
Now, this is an interesting point to keep in mind as we move forward. The women – not the men – “provide … continuity between the story of Jesus’ death and burial and the story of Easter morning.” <2> Unlike the male disciples who are nowhere, these women clearly aren’t overcome with despair. They resolve to do something – one final act to honor their beloved teacher. They couldn’t anoint his body on the Sabbath, so early Sunday morning, they set out for the tomb.
Now, the Greek words that Mark uses gives us some interesting insight into this scene. When the women arrived, they looked up and saw the tomb opened. The Greek word Mark used for “looking up” could also mean “to gain sight.” <3> Why gain sight? Perhaps the women were so busy that they were blind to Jesus’ words. Just as they witnessed his death, now they bore witness to the empty tomb.
When they entered the tomb, instead of finding Jesus, they encountered a young man in white. Scholars tell us that based on various Scripture passages, we can believe that this youth was some sort of angel. <4> Jesus is not in the tomb. The youth tells the women that Jesus has risen. Scholars tell us that even the Greek verb Mark uses is passive to describe “the divine origin of the miracle.” <5>
The youth tells the women to go and tell the other disciples that Jesus will meet them in Galilee. The women are commissioned to be the first evangelizers of the Resurrection! <6>
While this passage from Mark ends by describing the women’s fear, they told someone because the faith spread like wildfire and is with us here today. “The Gospel of Mark begins and ends with the proclamation of good news and the invitation to participate in God’s reign alive among us (1:14-15; 16:7).” <7>
Isn’t it wonderful? But this is no story.
What comfort do these events offer those who mourn their dead?
You see, for Christians, death isn’t the end of the story! Jesus was raised from the dead! Jesus overcame sin and death! Jesus’ triumph tells us, that, “The power of God is on the loose in the world, calling for our response.” <8>
As baptized Christians, we are united through Jesus with God – all of us – those who came before, those here with us now, and those yet to be born. And because we are united through Jesus, death is not the end! We are connected with our dead friends and family. And we will see them again! That’s part of the great hope of the Kingdom of God! The hope of the resurrection is felt by all believers, of course, but it’s felt in a particular way by all those who mourn. Indeed, all of the rituals of this most Holy Week affirms our hope in Christ Jesus. As we gather to mark the Great Vigil of Easter, we remember. We celebrate. And we believe!
Homework! Rejuvenated by the Easter message that we celebrate through the Word of God and the Eucharist, I invite you to reflect on the following question.
The women commissioned to announce the resurrection were ordinary people, just like most of us. How am I called to share the Good News?
Doing our homework reminds us as disciples that Easter is not just any day. It’s a reminder of our commission to go out into the world spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May we all come to know the joy of Easter and may God bless you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! +Amen!
You’re listening to deacon rudy’s notes. Thank you for joining me today. Silent Partner composed our theme music. You can find all sorts of helpful information on the website at www.deaconrudysnotes.org. I’m Deacon Rudy Villarreal. Join me again next weekend as we break open the Word. Peace!
Image Credit: Easter Tomb. Artist Unknown. JPG.
Notes:
<1> Mary Ann Beavis, chap. Mark 16:1-8, sec. Tracing the Narrative Flow, Kindle.
<2> Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm, 352.
<3> Mary Ann Beavis, chap. Mark 16:1-8, sec. Tracing the Narrative Flow, Kindle.
<4> Mary Ann Beavis, chap. Mark 16:1-8, sec. The Messenger in the Tomb, Kindle. Also see Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm, 351.
<5> Mary Ann Beavis, chap. Mark 16:1-8, sec. The Messenger in the Tomb, Kindle.
<6> Mary Ann Beavis, chap. Mark 16:1-8, sec. The Messenger in the Tomb, Kindle.
<7> Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm, 355.
<8> Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm, 357. Emphasis in original.
Bibliography/Suggested Readings:
1. Beavis, Mary Ann. Mark. Paideia Commentary Series. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011. Kindle.
2. Healy, Mary. Hebrews. The Gospel of Mark. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2008. Kindle.
3. Hahn, Scott W. and Curtis Mitch. Romans. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2017. Kindle.
4. Ottoni-Wilhelm, Dawn. Preaching the Gospel of Mark: Proclaiming the Power of God. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008.
Catechism References http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm:
1. Christ’s resurrection and ours: 638-58, 992-1004
2. Easter the Lord’s Day: 647, 1167-70, 1243, 1287
3. The Sacraments of Initiation: 1212
4. Baptism: 1214-22, 1226-28, 1234-45, 1254
5. Baptism – death and resurrection with Christ: 1214, 1220, 1227
6. Baptism – the sacrament of faith: 1226, 1253-54
7. Baptism – the sacrament of justification: 1266, 1992
8. Confirmation: 1286-89
9. Eucharist: 1322-23
10. The first day of the week: 2174-77
Holy Saturday at the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040321.cfm
Lectionary: 41
Gospel
Mark 16:1-7
When the sabbath was over,
Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome
bought spices so that they might go and anoint him.
Very early when the sun had risen,
on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb.
They were saying to one another,
“Who will roll back the stone for us
from the entrance to the tomb?”
When they looked up,
they saw that the stone had been rolled back;
it was very large.
On entering the tomb they saw a young man
sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe,
and they were utterly amazed.
He said to them, “Do not be amazed!
You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified.
He has been raised; he is not here.
Behold the place where they laid him.
But go and tell his disciples and Peter,
‘He is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see him, as he told you.’”