“The Lord is Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia!” “He is risen indeed! Alleluia, Alleluia!”
The Gospel account for Sunday’s liturgy is from the Gospel according to Luke. The passage follows the encounter between Jesus and the two disciples who were traveling to Emmaus on that “third day.” At first, they do not recognize him as they journey along. When they reach the destination, Jesus sits with them at table, takes bread, says the blessing and breaks it. It is now, at this point, that their “eyes are opened” and they recognize him, whereupon he vanishes from their sight.
Those two disciples made their way back to Jerusalem where they find the Eleven. They announce that they have seen the risen Lord. The announcement is reciprocated as he has already appeared to Peter. Now the account continues in today’s reading. Jesus, once again, appears in the locked room. He offers them the greeting “Peace be with you.” Naturally they are “terrified.”
“Rejoice, O Jerusalem,” is the entrance antiphon for this Sunday’s liturgy. The day is sometimes called Laetare Sunday,
“laetare” meaning “rejoice.” During our journey through Lent the celebration for this Sunday calls for the priest and deacon to wear rose-colored vestments. The liturgy reminds us that as we journey through Lent we have great reason to rejoice for the Lord loves us, and through his passion, death and resurrection frees us from sin and death.
The first reading from Second Chronicles first recalls the situation in Israel that led to the Babylonian exile. “Infidelity” was added to “infidelity.” Prophets were sent and ignored. The Lord’s Temple was profaned. Then the Babylonians came, conquered and destroyed the country. The Temple of the Lord was desecrated and destroyed as was the holy city of Jerusalem. The peoples were exiled as captives and taken to the faraway lands of Mesopotamia (present day Iraq).
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