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| “Noli Me Tangere” by Hans the Younger Holbein, 1524 |
Reading 1: 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.
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Commentary on Acts
2:36-41
The selection from Acts today
continues the First Discourse by Peter concerning the Messiah. In this section he introduces Baptism in the
name of Jesus. This is in accord with the
instructions of all four Gospels found here for the first time. Peter’s arguments are compelling and we are
told that three thousand accepted the call.
We note here also that Peter
called for “repentance” in addition to the call to Baptism. While Baptism washes away past sins,
repentance is a call to on-going conversion of heart. This indelible change is a consequence of the
gift of the Holy Spirit also given in Baptism.
CCC: Acts 2:34-36 447,
449; Acts 2:36-38 1433;
Acts 2:36 440,
597, 695, 731, 746; Acts 2:38 1226,
1262, 1287, 1427; Acts 2:41 363,
1226
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22
R. (5b) The earth is full of the goodness of the
Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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:
R. Alleluia.
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:
R. Alleluia.
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:
R. Alleluia.
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Commentary on Ps
33:4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22
Psalm 33 is a song of praise and
thanksgiving. In this selection the
emphasis is on faithfulness to God who has saving power combined with hope, a
central component of faith in God. The sense of God’s adoption of his chosen
ones is expressed as the singer rejoices in the interdependence of the people
and God’s love.
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Gospel: John 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.
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Commentary on Jn
20:11-18
Today we are given St. John’s account of the
first meeting between Mary Magdalene and Jesus following the Lord’s
crucifixion. It is likely, given her
past relationship with Jesus, that Mary throws herself at the Lord, braising
either his knees or feet. The Lord’s
response “Stop holding…” or in other
translations “Stop touching me.” (Noli Me Tangere) may indicate that
relationships have changed, that Christ must now let go of earthly ties to
assume his Godhead. In this account we get a distinct picture that the
ascension had not been completed but the Lord is waiting to deliver his final
instructions.
There is debate about when the
Lord ascended to the Father. Clearly his
last earthly appearance was fifty days following the resurrection. Most scholars believe Jesus ascended immediately
following his meeting with Mary depicted here. His return and actions from this
point to the Ascension (Acts
1:1-11) were to reassure the disciples and to accomplish the gift of the
Holy Spirit he had promised.
CCC: Jn 20:11-18 641;
Jn 20:13 640;
Jn 20:14-15 645,
659; Jn 20:14 645;
Jn 20:16 645;
Jn 20:17 443,
645, 654, 660, 2795
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Reflection:
It is surprising that while we are still in the Octave of
Easter with Mary Magdalene still weeping at the tomb we would hear St. Peter
exhorting the Jews to repentance. Yes,
he is making his point, primarily about faith in Jesus and the need to accept
the cleansing bath of Baptism, but beyond that he is exhorting the need for
repentance – a change in how they act going forward.
Repentance is more than simply saying we are sorry. True repentance is a fundamental change in
how we act and even think about the world and those around us. It is conforming ourselves to Christ’s mind
in such a way that we react to people with what we will call the “Christ Reflex”.
Anyone who has trained for a sport knows that there is
something called muscle memory. That
means, when an athlete trains long enough under strict supervision, their
muscles automatically perform without conscious thought. They reflexively act as they were
trained. Repentance means we train
ourselves to have the “spiritual memory” of how Christ would react. Through repetition and coaching we train
ourselves to think and act as if Christ were whispering in our ear in real
time.
We are an Easter people.
We believe that our Savior came to the world so that we might take his
message of love to heart and to understand that it is God’s will that we apply
His example in our lives. The only way
we can do that is to develop the “Christ Reflex”. When we see the poor, the infirmed, or the
marginalized, our reflex should be love, not fear or revulsion. When we are wronged, mentally or physically,
our reaction must be compassion and forgiveness, not hatred or vengeance. It is difficult, this Christ Reflex. And it will not come over night. Further we cannot do it in a vacuum. We need a coach. Getting a spiritual director is advised and
having a training partner is also recommended.
Keep each other honest and on track.
And, of course we need the whole team to cheer us on (that would be our
faith community).
Our Easter joy is somewhat tempered by the knowledge of how
far we must grow to become the disciples the Lord expects. Now while the echo of the Gloria bells still
reverberates, let us make a pledge to work toward that Christ Reflex and to
accept his challenge and example,
Pax
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture use is “Noli Me Tangere” by Hans the Younger Holbein, 1524
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
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