Easter Sunday, Cycle A

Celebrant: By his Resurrection, Christ has conquered all that stands between us and God. We therefore approach the Father now with great confidence.

Deacon/Lector:

That all Church leaders will be renewed in their mission of leading all people to Jesus, the Risen Lord, we pray to the Lord...

For a deeper unity among all Christians, as they acknowledge together and proclaim to the world the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we pray to the Lord...

That the Risen Christ may bless, guide, and protect all who serve in public office, we pray to the Lord...

That Jesus, who conquered the power of death, may give our society the strength to eliminate the evils of abortion, assisted suicide, and capital punishment, we pray to the Lord...

That the sick may be comforted and healed, and that all who have died may share in the Resurrection, we pray to the Lord...

Celebrant:
Father, 
you have already granted us more than we can ask for
in the Resurrection of Christ.
As you answer our prayers,
make us ever more faithful to him,
who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

Our Easter Mission

“Have no fear. The outcome of the battle for life is already decided, even though the struggle goes on against great odds and with much suffering… "Christ is now raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep ... so in Christ all will come to life again" (1 Cor. 15:2022). The paradox of the Christian message is this: Christ - the head - has already conquered sin and death. Christ in his body - the pilgrim people of God - continually suffers the onslaught of the Evil One and all the evil which sinful humanity is capable of.

”The liberating message of the Gospel of life has been put into your hands. And the mission of proclaiming it to the ends of the earth is now passing to your generation. Like the great apostle Paul, you too must feel the full urgency of the task: "Woe to me if I do not evangelize" (1 Cor. 9:16). Woe to you if you do not succeed in defending life. The church needs your energies, your enthusiasm, your youthful ideals, in order to make the Gospel of life penetrate the fabric of society, transforming people's hearts and the structures of society in order to create a civilization of true justice and love.” – Pope John Paul II to Youth, August 15, 1993, Denver, Colorado.

Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8
Jn 20:1-9 or Mt 28:1-10
or, at an afternoon or evening Mass, Lk 24:13-35

There is no day on which it is easier to preach on the victory of life than today, the Feast of Life, the Feast of Christ’s victory over death. Easter makes it clear that being “pro-life” is not something that flows primarily from any political or ideological loyalty, nor simply from a cause, plan, project, or organization. Being pro-life, and all its other manifestations and activities, flow from what happened on Easter. Christ did not only conquer his death; he overturned the entire kingdom of death!

On Easter, we do not come to Church simply to congratulate Jesus for rising from the dead. We come to celebrate the fact that we share that victory. We too, by living and dying in him, will rise in him on the last day.

But this victory is also about today, because we share his risen life now. If we share his life, we are “an Easter people,” or as Evangelium Vitae says, “the People of Life.” This means that we proclaim this victory of life, and stand strongly against all the forces in our society that eclipse or destroy the value of life - foremost among them all being abortion. We stand before these forces, not intimidated, hesitant, or unsure of our ability to overcome them. Instead, we stand before them in strength, declaring that they no longer have any ground to stand on, nor any place in our midst. Christ is Risen! On this day we preach with all the vigor and conviction that the Gospel inspires, and send our people forth to apply the Easter victory of Christ to every segment of society!