The Gospel of Mark 16:1-8 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Let us Pray: Faithful God, we think of your church today celebrating the Resurrection all over the world. Language race and nationalities may be different but our worship and our joy on the Day Of Resurrection make us one in the Gospel We pray that The Holy Spirit may guide and strengthen us in mission and service praying that day by day we may grow in love for you and for our brothers and sisters in Christ. . We Pray in the Name of the Risen Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen
On this Easter Sunday most churches see new faces, If on your way into church what would your reaction be if you saw a stranger sitting on the steps to your church? Would you stop and invite the person to join you, or would you ignore them? The stranger could be a messenger from God or maybe Jesus himself. Like the person sitting in the tomb. So, who was the person in the tomb of Jesus that morning? Was it Jesus or was he there to just inform the visitors the tomb was empty? Maybe he was a messenger that was there to relay to the visitors that Jesus was not there. It appears that he was an angel from God that had come to roll the stone back so they could peer into the empty tomb. Maybe He was Jesus? We can speculate and make our own minds up but what really matters is that we believe that the tomb was empty, and Jesus was no longer trapped by death. That He had overcome death on this morning. Jesus had risen from the dead! Alleluia! There is one small snag in the Gospel from Mark. Instead of spreading the grand news all over the countryside, those women are silent, saying nothing to anyone. Now someone must continue to speak about this to the world. And that someone can be you who are hearing this story! Mark has drawn all his readers and hearers into his tale and made us participants. We are the ones now called to proclaim and live the gospel of love and forgiveness that Jesus has proclaimed.
Let us pray: Faithful God as we go out into the world, we pray that we may reflect your love in our families, our church, and our community; so that the world can witness that we are followers of Christ and draw others into his loving care. Amen
Reflections by Bob 