SOLEMNITY OF EASTER

Liturgy Alive

The liturgical calendar of the year

Description

EASTER SEASON

SUNDAY APRIL 4

SOLEMNITY OF EASTER

1. The Victory of Life

2. A Risen People

3. Called to Life with Christ

1. The Victory of Life

Greeting (See alternative Second Reading)

Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed
and he is risen from the dead.
Let us celebrate the feast
by getting rid of all that is evil
and becoming all new in the Lord.
May the Risen Lord be always with you. R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

It is very inspiring to meet people wounded in their love and their life, whom we expect to be disgruntled and discouraged, yet who keep believing in love and the goodness of God and of the people around them. Today we meet in the Eucharist him who keeps our faith and hope alive in God’s goodness and loving concern: it is Jesus, our Lord risen from the dead. He went through suffering and death for us, and when all looked lost, all seemed in vain, he kept trusting in the Father and he rose from the dead. By the power of Jesus we too can rise to new life, to a feast of joy within us. We believe in the Risen Lord and in the resurrection he has brought us.

Penitential Act

We celebrate with our Risen Lord
that we are people who erred but are forgiven.
We acclaim Jesus our Savior.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, Lamb that was slain,
you are risen, the firstborn of the dead:
Glory to you!
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ, light of the world,
our resurrection and life:
Glory to you!
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, hope of all nations
our joy and our bread of life:
Glory to you!
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord,
keep forgiving us our sins,
make us all new and lead us
to the joy of everlasting life. Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray to God
that we may rise with the Risen Lord Jesus
(pause)
God of all life,
take away all sadness and doubt from us
and help us to believe in life,
now that your Son Jesus Christ is risen.
Make us see him raised up and alive,
walking with us on the road of life,
that we too may be a living people,
rising up from our drab and indifferent ways.
Fill us with the joy of the Spirit,
that our faith and love may never waver,
for Christ is risen and we are alive in him,
now and for ever. R/ Amen.

2. A Risen People

Greeting (see Second Reading II)

Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed;
let us celebrate the feast of Easter
by getting rid of the old ways of evil
and eating the new bread
of sincerity and truth.
A Happy Easter to all of you,
and may the Risen Lord be always with you. R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

Jesus our Lord is risen. Alleluia! This Jesus who was condemned to death, scourged and mocked and crowned with thorns, he who was jeered when he died on the cross, is risen and alive! Since that day God guarantees that his love is stronger than death. He also reassures us on this day: look to my risen Son: with him you are already rising from your pain and loneliness and wounds. With my Son and his Church your task is to lift up people from their miseries, to revive hope and joy and happiness until the day when you will fully rise to the happiness that can never be dimmed or taken away from you. Let the joy of the risen Christ light up your faces.

Penitential Act

Christ has overcome sin and death.
Have we let him drive out from us the evil of sin?
Have we let him renew us?
(pause)
Lord Jesus, all glory to you!
For you are the firstborn from the dead.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ, all praise to you!
For your rising is the pledge of a new world.
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, all thanksgiving to you!
For you are the hope of all people.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord.
We are sure you forgive us all our sins
and want us to live to the full.
Stay with us and lead us forward
on the road to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us give thanks to the Father
for he has brought us life and joy
through Jesus, his risen Son.
(pause)
God of life and of love,
we rejoice today that Jesus is risen
and that he has begun
to raise us up with him in baptism.
Continue in us the work of resurrection,
lift us above our faults and our mediocrity,
to joy and unselfish love
as we serve you in one another.
Let your Spirit make us free
to bring hope and justice to all around us,
until you raise us up to share
in your happiness without end.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Risen Lord,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit
now and for ever. R/ Amen.

3. Called to Life with Christ

Greeting

Christ is risen, alleluia!
With Christians all over the world
we shout this cry of joy today
as we thank our Father in heaven
for raising Jesus from the dead.
May the peace and joy of the Risen Lord
be always with you. R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

Today we celebrate life: the life of Jesus, as he rose from the dead, our life that is now stronger than death, stronger than all suffering and pain. Life makes sense and is worthwhile. It is very precious, and we have to bring life to one another and to our world: it must be a risen world in which there is joy, not fear, where justice and love triumph. Let us pray to the Risen Lord here among us that we and our world may rise with him.

Penitential Act

It is time to cast off sin
and to rise with Jesus our Lord.
We acclaim him as our liberator from sin.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you have changed our mourning
into joy and life and freedom:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ, you have buried our sins;
you call us out of our tombs with you:
Christ have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you have opened to all people
the gate to life;
you are the hope and light and life of all:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord,
undo our past of sin
and make us rise with you.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray that the risen Christ
may fill our lives with love and joy
(pause)
Lord God, loving Father,
we acclaim Jesus your Son as our Risen Lord.
We thank you that in him
a new, risen life has begun for us
and a new dawn has come for the world.
We pray you on this day of joy:
Pour out his Holy Spirit on us too,
that we may become new,
free in heart and spirit,
and break for each other the bread of love.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. R/ Amen.

First Reading: Witnesses to the Resurrection

Peter testifies to the reality of the resurrection: Jesus is truly risen personally and if we believe in the Risen Lord, we will be saved.

Reading 1: ACTS 10:34A, 37-43

Peter proceeded to speak and said:
"You know what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.
We are witnesses of all that he did
both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.
This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible,
not to all the people, but to us,
the witnesses chosen by God in advance,
who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
He commissioned us to preach to the people
and testify that he is the one appointed by God
as judge of the living and the dead.
To him all the prophets bear witness,
that everyone who believes in him
will receive forgiveness of sins through his name."

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23.

(24) This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
"His mercy endures forever."
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R. Alleluia.
"The right hand of the LORD has struck with power;
the right hand of the LORD is exalted.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD."
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R.Alleluia.

Second Reading: Risen with Christ

Christ’s resurrection has already begun in us, says St. Paul. We must continue to rise with him by letting him free us more and more, so as to share one day in his full risen glory.

Reading 2: Col 3:1-4

Brothers and sisters:
If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.

Alternative Second Reading: New People in the Risen Christ

We should not let evil ferment in us, but rather let the new life in Christ be the ferment that trans-forms us and the world.

1 Cor 5:6B-8

Brothers and sisters:
Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?
Clear out the old yeast,
so that you may become a fresh batch of dough,
inasmuch as you are unleavened.
For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,
not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Sequence Victimae Paschali Laudes

Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems;
Christ, who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:
The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
"The tomb of Christ, who is living,
The glory of Jesus' resurrection;
bright angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;
to Galilee he goes before you."
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia.

Alleluia: 1 Cor 5:7B-8A

Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed;
let us then feast with joy in the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: He Saw and He Believed.

Mary Magdalene and the apostles were upset to find the tomb empty. But first John, then the others, realized that Jesus was risen from the dead. Thus they strengthen our faith in the Risen Lord.

Gospel: Jn 20:1-9

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
"They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don't know where they put him."
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead.

Gospel II: They Recognized the Lord at the Breaking of Bread.

[May be used at Sunday evening Masses]:

Every Christian goes on the road of Emmaus with the Risen Lord; we grope to understand his word, his presence is hidden and recognizable only by faith, he nourishes us with the Eucharist. Are we eager to proclaim his Good News?

Gospel: Mk 16:1-7

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 amazed!
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.'"

Renewal of Baptismal Promises

– In Easter Sunday Masses which are celebrated with a congregation, the rite of the renewal of baptismal promises is repeated after the homily and replaces the Creed.

– The renunciations reject all that is against the covenant of love between God and his people; the promises renew our fidelity to that covenant.

– The priest speaks to the people in these or similar words:

Dear friends, Christ is risen, and we rose with him on the day we were baptized. Since then, we are called to a new, risen life, until the day the Lord will raise us up to enter with him in the Father’s joy. Let this holy water come down on us like a life-giving rain that steeps us deeper into the life of Christ. May the Lord pour the flood of his love on you and may the Holy Spirit rejoice your heart.

And so:

Priest: Do you reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of God’s children?

All: I do.

P.: Do you reject the glamour of evil, and refuse to be mastered by sin?

All: I do.

P.: Do you reject Satan, father of sin and prince of darkness?

All: I do.

Then the priest continues:

P.: Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth?

All: I do.

P.: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?

All: I do.

P.: Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?

All: I do.

The priest concludes: God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.

All: Amen.

The priest sprinkles the people with holy water, while a fitting baptismal song is sung.

Intercessions

On the day of the Lord’s resurrection we celebrate his and our new, risen life. Let us pray to the Lord of life and say: