First Reading (Easter Sunday)
Acts 10:34a, 37-43
1. What is the significance of the word “witness,” in the sentence, “We are witnesses of all that he did”? Peter uses it both as a noun (meaning “observer”) and a verb (meaning “corroborate,” “testify”). So is it something you can be and do? Be: how are you a witness? Do: what is your action to witness to truth?
2. Should we witness with more than words? Peter bore witness in a different manner after the Resurrection than he did before Christ died. To what do you attribute this? Was he consumed by love for Christ and his Gospel? Is the source of strength for Peter the same source for us?
Second Reading (Easter Sunday)
Colossians 3:1-4
1. “Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above.” (See later in Colossians 3 for Paul’s meaning of “above”). He says that we should put on heartfelt compassion. What does compassion look like in our immediate world and in the larger one? Discuss Pope Francis’ statement below. What cries of the poor “deeply move” you? Dying children in Yemen? People suffering from effects of global warming, homelessness and starvation?
“We incarnate the duty of hearing the cry of the poor when we are deeply moved by the suffering of others.”
2. One of Paul’s last directives is to let the peace of Christ control our hearts. How do you do that now, when you’re feeling paralyzed with fear because of violence, the pandemic, or depression? Where do you find help?
Gospel:
Easter Vigil: Luke 24: 1-12
Easter Sunday: John 20:1-9
1. The same women who came to anoint his body in the morning had been with Jesus when he died. Were they deterred from their task by fear? Compare their behavior with some of Jesus’ other disciples. Think about events like our pandemic, our protests against injustice, such as the Selma march. Were people like John Lewis, doctors and nurses in the ERs, Gandhi and Dorothy Day stopped by fear? Where is your courage on a scale of 1 to 10? Will it look different on every person and in every situation?
2. What is it that allowed John to “see and believe,” to have this kind of clarity? Does love give you knowledge about a person, or insights into their behavior? In John, Jesus said “Whoever loves me … I will love him/her and reveal myself to her/him)” (Jn 14:21). Is there a connection between Jesus’ statement and John’s “seeing and believing”?
