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Acts 2:36-41
Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22
John 20:11-18
The Jews are moved, cut to the heart, by Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost. They come to believe that Jesus was raised by God from the dead and that Jesus is both Lord and Christ. He is truly God and truly the Savior of man.
Their new faith in Christ spurs them to ask Peter: “What are we to do?”. Peter answers: “Repent and be baptized”. John the Baptist preached the same message at the beginning of his ministry. His baptism, however, was unable to forgive sins. The Baptism preached by Peter is able to forgive sins. John’s baptism cleansed the people with water and sought conversion of heart. Peter’s baptism in the name of Jesus Christ cleanses the people with the Holy Spirit and brings people into God’s family.
The Psalm says that those who fear the Lord hope that God will deliver them from death and preserve them. They will be saved from the corrupt generation who rejected the one the Father sent to redeem them.
In the Gospel, John tells us that when Mary Magdalene encounters Jesus, she does not know that it is him until he says her name. Encountering the risen Christ is a very personal experience. The same holds true for each one of us. Our encounter with the risen Christ in the Eucharist is very personal. When we hear him in prayer, he says our name and awaits our response. Hopefully we respond in faith as Mary does today.
Jesus has a mission for Mary. She is to announce the Resurrection to the apostles and reveal that Jesus is returning to God the Father. Jesus will ascend to the Father 40 days after his Resurrection and send the Holy Spirit to his apostles. By saying “my Father and your Father”, Jesus is reveals the great truth of our adoptive sonship. Through our Baptism, we have received a spirit of adoption (Romans 8:15) and are made sons of God in the Son. We are heirs of God (Romans 8:17), co-heirs with God and will receive the promised inheritance. We share in Christ’s sufferings so that we may share in his glory. Mary received the grace to see the Lord: She beheld the glory of God, the glory of the only-begotten Son of God (John 1:14). We too will behold that glory as sons of God and be able to say: “I have seen the Lord”.
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Readers may contact Father Jason Mitchell at mitchelljason2011@gmail.com.
