Faith Daily | 10 April 2021
PRAYER of the DAY - EASTER
Almighty God,
you have conquered death
through your dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ
and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:
grant us by your grace to set our mind on things above,
so that by your continual help
our whole life may be transformed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit
in everlasting glory.
Amen
GOSPEL for the Day: Mark 16: 9-15
The Shorter Ending of Mark
[[And all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter. And afterwards Jesus himself sent out through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]]
The Longer Ending of Mark
9 [[Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. 11But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
12 After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
14 Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.
GOSPEL Reflection: Contributed by Hilary Bell
In this Easter week we have heard from the other Gospel writers. We read Matthew, Luke and John writing of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, recounting the pure joy and wonder of those who encountered the living Lord, Luke’s moving account of the Emmaus Road experience “our hearts burning within us”, the dawning realization of the eleven that what he had told them about rising on the third day had been fulfilled, how He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread until they could believe and proclaim “The Lord has risen indeed”!
Now in this “Longer ending of Mark’s Gospel” we have the directness and economy we’ve come to identify with Mark’s narrative. The facts are that Jesus first appeared to a woman, Mary Magdalene, who was not believed, then to two disciples, again, not believed and finally to the eleven. Jesus chastises them for their refusal to believe the witness of Mary and the two disciples, but Mark immediately moves on to the Great Commission of Jesus: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news”.
Mark’s message: “It’s true. Now you believe it, act on it.”
We again journeyed through Lent, Holy Week, the Crucifixion, and Resurrection. We sang our Easter hymns. We, too, are now urged to move out of the room (with whatever doubt, confusion and anxiety held us there) and into the world. Our journey must continue beyond this week. Everything has changed! Easter Joy transforms and renews us to share the hope that we have: the good news of Jesus Christ.
We are challenged to be an Easter people, a Resurrection people tasked with being the body of Christ in the world today.
FINAL PRAYER: Francis Brienen, UK
When the broken come to wholeness,
when the wounded come to healing,
when the frightened come to trusting,
the stone has been rolled away.
When the lonely find friendship,
when the hurt find new loving,
when the worried find peace,
the stone has been rolled away.
When we share instead of taking,
when we stroke instead of striking,
when we join around the table,
the stone has been rolled away.
The stone has been rolled away!
In you, Christ Jesus,
love breaks through hatred,
hope breaks through despair,
life breaks through death.
Hallelujah, Christ is risen!
Amen