Monday, April 21, 2025

 Monday in the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2:14.22-33; Matthew 28:8-15)

The gospels provide two types of evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection.  All of the four speak of disciples finding his tomb empty.  Of course, this is only circumstantial evidence.  The clincher is Jesus’ appearance to his disciples.  Not only the gospels, but also St. Paul testify that Jesus appeared to them.

Today’s passage from Matthew’s gospel hints of the empty tomb but describes unequivocally a resurrection appearance.  Jesus addresses the women who evidently came to be proximate to his remains.  They had been informed by an angel that he had been raised.  Still, they are afraid when they see him probably because they were not sure that he was not a ghost.  The account also explains why more Jews did not accept the disciples’ announcement of the Resurrection.  It says that the soldiers guarding the tomb were bribed by Jewish leaders.  They were paid to say that his body was stolen.

After two thousand years many are still not convinced that Jesus was raised.  They take the testimonies of disciples as disingenuous.  However, we must not doubt the resurrection.  The apostles accepted martyrdom rather than deny it.  Furthermore, we have already been beneficiaries in being accepted into the Church.  The Resurrection will also provide us an eternal home with God.

Monday, April 10, 2023

Monday in the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2:14.22-23; Matthew 28:8-15)

Today’s gospel juxtaposes two accounts of what happened after Jesus’ crucifixion.  The first is given by Jesus himself who is obviously risen from the dead.  He asks that the good news of the resurrection be conveyed to his disciples, whom he now calls “brothers.”

The second account involves an accusation against Jesus’ disciples.  The chief priests say that the disciples stole Jesus’ body and, presumably, announced falsely the resurrection. 

Certainly, the evangelist Matthew leaves no doubt which account is true.  Nevertheless, readers must choose between the two as the second account has been handed down through the centuries as well as the first.  It can be said that the second account is more credible because the resurrection from the dead into eternal life is a unique event in history.  But we hold to the first for several reasons.  First, the disciples had little to gain by proclaiming the resurrection.  Indeed, they were to suffer martyrdom for telling the story.  This fact gives us added confidence that the Jesus’ account is true.  Finally, the first account confirms what we know of Jesus.  He preached not only the resurrection of the dead but also the goodness that life offers and the necessity of telling the truth.

Monday, April 18, 2022

 

Monday within the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2:24.22-23; Matthew 28:8-15)

For Vladimir Putin the war in Ukraine is not a war or an invasion; it is a “military operation.”  Most Russians believe him.  There is resistance to the party line, but the people are largely supporting their troops.  In today’s gospel the chief priests and elders try to foist such propaganda regarding the resurrection of Jesus.

Matthew recounts how the Jewish leaders bribe the Roman guard of Jesus’ tomb.  They tell the soldiers to say that Jesus’ disciples stole his body while they were sleeping.  Thinking about this version of the story, one should see its implausibility.  If the soldiers were sleeping, how could they know what happened.  Also with such a story, they would be opening themselves to ridicule if not punishment for neglect of duty. 

What is more lamentable here than covering up the truth is the truth that is being covered up.  Jesus’ resurrection opens to us a new way of living.  We no longer have to count as success accumulating wealth or achieving fame.  Success is now staying close to the Lord who has promised eternal life to his friends.  Like it did for him, our self-sacrifice for others will bring us the happiness that we seek.

 

Monday, April 13, 2020

Monday in the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2:24.22-23; Matthew 28:8-15)

The world today is in desperate need of good news.  We have been in suspense over the virus for a month now.  Our spirits require word of a really positive development to emerge from worry.  What if there was something good to report like a cure COVID-19, but people tried to suppress it?  Perhaps pride or rebelliousness would move them not to share this hope-builder with others.  Would it not be a great offense to humanity?  This is the kind of travesty that Matthew tries to portray in today’s gospel.

Jesus meets the two Marys as they run in fearful joy from his former tomb.  He reiterates to them the mandate to tell his disciples about his resurrection.  The news is so overwhelming that he no longer even calls them disciples.  The grace of the resurrection has forgiven their cowardice so that he calls them “brothers.”  All can rejoice in what God has done.  However, the chief priests and elders of the people do not want the good news to be heard.  They fear losing their hold on the people.  So they try to suppress the news of the resurrection by bribing the guards of the tomb to tell another story.

To be fair to the Jews of Jesus’ time and today this tale of overt suppression of the truth probably did not occur as Matthew reports.  It is only attested in his gospel and may be understood in the context of the extreme Jewish-Christian animosity at the time of its writing.  Still people through the ages not wanting to believe in the resurrection have perpetuated the story.  On the other hand, Jesus and his disciples desire the resurrection to be preached with all its promise.  It makes our days brighter and our hopes for eternal life more secure.

Monday, April 2, 2018

Monday within the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2:24.22-23; Matthew 28:8-15)

In 1945 Easter was also celebrated on April 1.  On that day Giuseppe Girotti, a young Italian Dominican priest, was executed in Dachau.  His crime was aiding and abetting the Jewish people who were being severely persecuted by the Nazis in northern Italy.  Fr. Girotti, a Scripture scholar, felt a profound solidarity with Jews through his study of the Old Testament.  He considered them his “elder brothers” in the faith.  His story belies the sentiments of Christians who have felt animosity toward Jews because of the report found in today’s gospel.

Matthew’s gospel is severely critical of Jews probably because of the time it was written.  Most exegetes date the gospel to after the fall of Jerusalem when Jews were redefining their religious practices.  They forcibly excluded Christians from synagogue services.  The violence resulted in the portrayal of Jews as almost universally disdainful of Christ.  Only in Matthew’s gospel, for example, do the Jews tell Pilate that both they and their children would be responsible for Christ’s blood.  Jewish leaders bribing the Roman soldiers in today’s passage corresponds to this defamatory narrative.

Certainly Fr. Girotti’s sense that Christians have much to thank Jews for corresponds better with Jesus’ teaching, actions, and resurrection from the dead.  Everywhere, and especially in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus exhorts his followers to forgive.  He never curses anyone throughout his ordeal.  Indeed, he died and was raised so that the sins of all might be forgiven.

Monday, April 17, 2017

Monday within the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2:24.22-23; Matthew 28:8-15)

Of all the evangelists Matthew is most cynical toward the Jews.  He alone pictures Jewish leaders scheming with Judas to arrest Jesus.  Likewise, he alone records the Jewish people saying that Jesus’ blood should fall on them and their children.  The cynicism toward the Jews concludes in today’s gospel.  Matthew alone explains the natural skepticism that arises with the report of a dead person’s coming to life by describing the Jewish authorities bribing the Roman soldiers and promulgating a lie.

Scholars attribute such negativity in Matthew (and John) to the persecution that Christians were experiencing at the hand of Jewish leaders at the time of his writing.  Jewish-Christians were being purged from synagogues as Jewish leaders were reforming the practice of their faith with the destruction of the Jerusalem temple.  Saying that an evangelist read back into the account of Jesus’ life events which reflect his own times does not undercut the authority of Scripture.  Rather it should help Christians to understand and live their faith.

We should not doubt the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  That Jesus appeared to his disciples and to Paul in a glorified body after he died is firmly attested to in Scripture.  His resurrection and visitations have precipitated the coming of the Holy Spirit upon us.  The Spirit enables us to accept the quite implausible occurrence of the resurrection so that we too hope to experience it at the end of time.   The same Spirit moves us to search for the truth of all matters so that our testimony to the resurrection of Jesus has credibility. 

Monday, March 28, 2016

Monday within the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2:14.22-33; Matthew 28:8-15)

In today’s gospel the Jewish authorities instruct the soldiers to lie about what had taken place the day of Jesus’ resurrection.  Moreover, it indicates that all the Jews believed the fabrication.  Scholars do not doubt that this report exaggerates the cover-up.  It is part of the often vindictive debate that was taking place between Christians and Jews when the gospel was being written.

Matthew begins his gospel with the story of how King Herod the Great tried to squash the coming of Christ to the world.  The king, frustrated by the Magi’s not returning to Jerusalem, orders all infant boys of the region killed.  Now at the end of the gospel the Jewish leaders try to stop news of the resurrection from spreading to the people.  God will frustrate them as well with Jesus’ appearances to the apostles and their proclamation to the world.

We live in a time of similar religious rivalry.  Muslims on one side and Christians and Jews on the other are wary of one another.  As Pope Francis demonstrated when he washed the feet of three Muslims on Holy Thursday, we must not allow this antipathy to spread.  We should never attribute to all Muslims the evil perpetrated by Muslim extremists.   We need to promote positive relations with Muslims because we are followers of Christ who died to show God’s love for all.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Monday within the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2: 14.22-33; Matthew 28:8-15)

The behavior of the chief priests in the gospel of Matthew might make a saint anti-clerical.  They pay to arrange Jesus’ arrest.  They seek false testimony to condemn him.  They show no compassion for Judas as he struggles with a guilty conscious and much less for Jesus as they ridicule him on the cross.  After Jesus’ death, they ask Pilate for a guard to prevent the abduction of Jesus’ body.  And, in today’s gospel, they bribe the same guard to lie about what took place.  Perhaps some of these incidents may be attributed to the animosity between the Jews and the Christians when Matthew wrote; nevertheless, they indicate some trut,hs about Jesus’ resurrection.

The assertions that the chief priests asked for soldiers to guard Jesus’ tomb and then bribed them to be quiet when the tomb was found empty point to one of the reasons Christians believe in the resurrection.  His tomb, which is marked in a definite place by all four gospel accounts, was found to be empty that Sunday morning, again in all gospel narratives.  Unless the body was stolen as the Jews in Matthew’s account allege, there is no other explanation for its disappearance than the resurrection.

However, our faith in the resurrection is not based on circumstantial evidence alone.  Jesus also appeared to many people after his body was found missing from the tomb.  Today’s gospel speaks of the first appearance to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.  St. Paul will give us a list of his appearances: Peter, the Twelve, five hundred Christian brothers, and, of course, to Paul himself.  Based on their testimony, the empty tomb, and our own experience of the power of Christ acting in our lives, we do not hesitate to affirm that, yes, he rose from the dead to save us from sin and death.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Monday in the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2: 14.22-33; Matthew 28:8-15)

The behavior of the chief priests in the gospel of Matthew could turn a saint anti-clerical.  They pay to arrange the arrest of an innocent man. They seek false testimony to condemn Jesus.  They show no compassion for Judas as struggles with a guilty conscious and less for Jesus suffering on the cross.  After Jesus’ death, they ask Pilate for a guard to prevent the abduction of Jesus’ bodies.  And, in today’s gospel, they bribe the same guard to lie about Jesus’ resurrection.  Because the veracity of these outrages cannot be confirmed, it may be best to attribute them to the animosity between Christians and Jews at the time of Matthew’s writing.

The last two assertions here about the chief priests point to one of the reasons Christians give for belief in the resurrection.  His tomb, a marked grave in which Jesus alone is laid in all four gospel accounts, was found to be empty that Sunday morning again in all four gospels.  Unless the body was stolen as the Jews in Matthew’s account allege, there is no other explanation for its disappearance than the resurrection.

However, our faith in the resurrection is based on more than circumstantial evidence.  Jesus also appeared to people after his body was found missing.  Today’s gospel speaks of the first appearance -- to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.  Writing almost a generation later, St. Paul will give us a list of such appearances: Peter, the Twelve, five hundred Christian brothers, and himself.  Based on their testimony, the empty tomb, and our own experience of the power of Christ acting in our lives, we do not hesitate to affirm that, yes, he rose from the dead.   

Monday, April 9, 2012

Monday within the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2:14.22-33; Matthew 28:8-15)

In late December a young female factory worker in Mexico was abducted. She had been organizing for the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras. Her mother and father then began looking for her until they too were taken away. In February the bodies of the couple were dumped outside the city where their daughter worked. This terrible saga gives some perspective on why the women after seeing Jesus’ empty tomb of Jesus go away frightened.

Jesus is said to be raised. Perhaps the women try to comprehend what these words mean as they leave the tomb. They may be thinking that the message is a ruse such that those who contrived to have Jesus crucified will now follow them to get to Jesus’ disciples. The gospel tells us that the Jewish leaders pay off the guard so that they do not mention Jesus’ missing body. Are they now going to kill his disciples? Then Jesus intervenes telling the women not to fear and to relate the message to the eleven.

Just as for the women of today’s gospel, living the faith of the resurrection is often challenging. It means overcoming the fear that our sacrifices on behalf of Christ may be in vain. It means stating in face of the circumstantial evidence of decaying bodies that death is not the last of us but that our bodies will be reclaimed by the risen Christ to live with him in glory.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Monday in the Octave of Easter

Acts 2:14.22-33; Matthew 28:8-15)

The behavior of the chief priests in the gospel of Matthew might make a saint anti-clerical. They pay to arrange the arrest of an innocent man. They seek false testimony to condemn Jesus. They show no compassion for Judas as struggles with a guilty conscious and less for Jesus on the cross as they ridicule him. After Jesus’ death, they ask Pilate for a guard to prevent the abduction of Jesus’ bodies. And, in today’s gospel, we see them bribing the same guard to lie about what took place. Because the veracity of these incidents cannot be confirmed, it may be best to attribute them to the animosity between the Jews and the Christians when Matthew wrote.

The last two assertions here about the chief priests point to one of the reasons Christians give for belief in the resurrection. His tomb, which is marked in a definite place by all four gospel accounts, was found to be empty that Sunday morning, again in all gospel narratives. Unless the body was stolen as the Jews in Matthew’s account allege, there is no other explanation for its disappearance than the resurrection.

However, our faith in the resurrection is based on more than circumstantial evidence. Jesus also appeared to many people after his body was found missing from the tomb. Today’s gospel speaks of the first appearance to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. St. Paul will give us a list of his appearances: Peter, the Twelve, five hundred Christian brothers, and, of course, to Paul himself. Based on their testimony, the empty tomb, and our own experience of the power of Christ acting in our lives, we do not hesitate to affirm that, yes, he rose from the dead to save us from sin and death.

Homilette for March 24, 2008

Monday in the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2:14.22-33 and Matthew 28:8-15)

The idea of resurrection from the dead staggers the mind so much that suggesting it invites skepticism. In the readings today we see bases of two attempts to discredit Jesus’ resurrection. The gospel mentions a refutation from apostolic times. Apparently some Jews claimed that Jesus did not rise from the dead but that his disciples stole his body. The evangelist’s picturing corrupt Jewish leaders as bribing the Roman soldiers corresponds to their seeking false witnesses at Jesus’ trial.

More pertinent today is a doubt about the resurrection that the Acts of the Apostles suggests. In the first reading Peter tries to show his Jewish listeners that Jesus’ resurrection is foretold in Scripture. Propelled by this account, modern skeptics have conjectured that the passion, death and resurrection narratives were invented by early Christians with the Old Testament in hand. According to these theorists, the apostles gleaned tidbits from the Jewish Scriptures, injected them into the story of Jesus’ ordeal, and then claimed that the crucified Jesus also rose from the dead. This scenario may be possible, but it is hardly likely. We might ask why the apostles did not choose more relevant information than casting lots for Jesus’ garments or offering Jesus wine mixed with gall. Catholic scholar Fr. Raymond Brown has written it is far more likely that early Christians, after witnessing Jesus death and resurrection, told of it with reference to its elements that correspond to Scripture.

Skeptics can and will always raise doubts about Jesus’ resurrection. It remains a singular event in history (unless we count the Assumption of Mary for which there appears to be far less testimony). We accept it in faith for at least three reasons. First, the apostles, who died for preaching the resurrection, make a credible witness. Second, the resurrection satisfies the longing of the human heart, which God has created, for immortality. And third, we have experienced the effects of the resurrection in the Spirit’s filling our hearts with God’s love.