FIRST READING
“Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ.”
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:36-41)
[On the day of Pentecost,] Peter said to the Jews, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly 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 said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptised, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 33:4-5.18-19.20 and 22 (R. 5b)
R/. His merciful love fills the earth.
Or: Alleluia.
The word of the Lord is faithful,
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right,
and his merciful love fills the earth. R/.
Yes, the Lord’s eyes are on those who fear him,
who hope in his merciful love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine. R/.
Our soul is waiting for the LORD.
He is our help and our shield.
May your merciful love be upon us,
as we hope in you, O LORD. R/.
ALLELUIA Psalm 118:24
Alleluia. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
I have seen the Lord and he said these things to me.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (John 20:11 – 18)
At that time: Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means teacher Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
The cry “Rabboni!” that Mary Magdalene made responding to Christ expresses the response of the human being who searches, imagines, questions, suffers and is troubled as he or she reaches forward to grasp what is beyond grasp and who stops in wonder, unexpectedly recognizing the voice of truth. This is not a truth that is distant and abstract, but the living person of Christ who is present and calls your name sweetly. And the task of proclaiming to the brethren the passing of Jesus to the Farther is entrusted to Magdalene by the Risen Lord himself. How blessed every Christian would be if he or she can say like her, “I have seen the Lord!”