Catholic Ireland for : Monday, 1st April, 2024

Liturgical Readings for : Monday, 1st April, 2024

Easter Monday

Jesus sends the women on the mission to tell the disciples about his Rising,
making them his chosen first witnesses. Alleluia

FIRST READING

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 2:14, 22-32
God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed them in a loud voice:
‘Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as you all know. This man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him to be held in its power since, as David says of him:
I saw the Lord before me always,
for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me.
So my heart was glad and my tongue cried out with joy;
my body, too, will rest in the hope that you will not abandon my soul to Hades
nor allow your holy one to experience corruption.
You have made known the way of life to me,
you will fill me with gladness through your presence.

‘Brothers, no one can deny that the patriarch David himself is dead and buried: his tomb is still with us. But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn him an oath to make one of his descendants succeed him on the throne, what he foresaw and spoke about was the resurrection of the Christ: he is the one who was not abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not experience corruption.
God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that.

‘Now raised to the heights by God’s right hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.‘

The Word of the Lord.   Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm     Ps 15
Response   Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
Or Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

1. Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup; it is you yourself who are my prize.’ Response

2. I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight: since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm. Response

3. And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad; even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead, nor let your beloved know decay. Response

4. You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness for ever. Response

Gospel Acclamation Ps 117: 24
Alleluia, Alleluia!
This day was made by the Lord; we rejoice and are glad.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 28: 8-15 Glory to you, O Lord
Tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there.

Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples.

And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus. ‘Greetings’ he said.
And the women came up to him and, falling down before him, clasped his feet.
Then Jesus said to them,
‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee;
they will see me there’.

While they were on their way, some of the guard went off into the city to tell the chief priests all that had happened. These held a meeting with the elders and, after some discussion, handed a considerable sum of money to the soldiers with these instructions, ‘This is what you must say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep”.
And should the governor come to hear of this, we undertake to put things right with him ourselves and to see that you do not get into trouble.’

The soldiers took the money and carried out their instructions, and to this day that is the story among the Jews.

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Easter Monday Matthew 28:8-15

There is a strong contrast in today’s gospel reading between the actions of a group of women and the actions of a group of men. The women fall down before the risen Lord and clasp his feet; they then respond immediately to the Lord’s command to go to the disciples and announce to them that he is going to meet them all in Galilee. Matthew portrays them as worshipping the Lord and then going out as his messengers in response to his call. They model for us our own Easter calling. We gather to worship the Lord, to fall down before him like the women. We go forth from our worship to proclaim the good news that the Lord is risen and wants to meet us not just in Galilee but in all the places where we live and work.

In contrast to the women, the group of men, both soldiers and elders, conspire between them to spread a false story about Jesus’ disciples stealing his body. They are not open to the good news that Jesus is risen; they cannot take seriously anyone who says, as Mary Magdalene said, ‘I have seen the Lord’. There are versions of that false story around to this day, pouring scorn on the central core of our faith, ‘the crucified one has been raised from the dead’. It is a counter story to the story of the gospels, the women’s story in today’s gospel reading, the story of Peter, the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the story of Paul. It is in and through those stories that we continue to meet the risen Lord. It is to those stories we give our minds and hearts and souls, so that we may have life and have it to the full.