In today's Gospel, we learn about the women who went to Jesus' tomb, only to find the stone rolled back and an angel proclaiming that Jesus has risen.
Holy Spirit, fill my heart and illuminate my mind. Help me to hear and understand God's message today. Help me to recognise when God is trying to speak to me in my daily life. Amen
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint Him. Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large.
On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed. He said to them, “Do not be afraid! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.’”
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Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMnuEZmEmtw (Credit to Kids Catholic Media)
Say: Today’s Gospel tells the story of Easter as found in the Gospel of Mark. None of the Gospels answers all our questions about Jesus’ Resurrection, and the Gospel of Mark is particularly sparse in its detail about the discovery of the empty tomb.
Ask: What does this Gospel tell us happened on the first Easter morning? (Three women went to anoint Jesus’ body; they found that the stone had been rolled back; they saw an angel who told them that Jesus had been raised from the dead; the women were told that the disciples would see Jesus in Galilee.)
Say: There is a curious thing about Mark’s Gospel. In the verse following the passage we hear today, Mark tells us that the women were so afraid that they ran away from the tomb and didn’t tell anyone what they had seen. They must have eventually told someone, because Mark, who was not at the tomb, heard the story and wrote about it. At some point, the women’s fear subsided, and they reported the good news of Jesus’ Resurrection. Imagine that you are one of the disciples who heard the report of these women. What questions would you have for them? (How did the stone get rolled back? Where was Jesus’ body? Who was the young man at the tomb?)
After hearing the list of questions, say: These are all great questions, and knowing the answers would certainly satisfy our curiosity. But isn’t it interesting that even without knowing the answers to these questions, we know the most important thing: Jesus was crucified, but when his friends came to the tomb to anoint his body, they found the tomb empty. They were told that Jesus had been raised from the dead and that they would see him again in Galilee. The Gospel doesn’t tell us everything, but it tells us enough. It tells us that God did an amazing thing when he raised Jesus from the dead. Our faith tells us that God continues to do amazing things in our world.
Conclude in prayer together that our faith in Jesus' Resurrection will grow strong and that we will recognize the amazing things that God does for us in our world. Pray together the Act of Faith.
