Easter Sunday  
TheÊfollowing message byÊSister Mary Ann Barnhorn, SNDdeNÊwas originally published by theÊSNDdeNÊCongregational Mission Office:Ê
Read: John 20: 1-9
Reflect: Today we sing, ÒAlleluia, alleluia, Jesus Christ is Risen, Alleluia.Ó The Easter event brings us to the pinnacle of ChristÕs life, lived for each of us who have been called by name to know Him, to experience ourselves as loved by Him, and to love Him in return. We have followed this God of ours through His birth, infancy, adolescence (Did you not know that I had to be about My FatherÕs business?)

His public life, teaching, touching and healing. This past week, we have followed, with the entire Church throughout the world, His Procession into Jerusalem (palms and all), His sham trial, agony in the Garden, carrying of the cross, and finally death on that cross. These are all life events that we can see, feel, and experience with eyes of faith.

Each was a once-and-done event, and we treasure the opportunity we have had to celebrate each of them as a faith community in liturgical prayer and contemplation, year by year, and hopefully going deeper into the reality and learnings of every single event. In these events, Jesus taught us who He is and how we as His followers should live and love.


The Feast we celebrate today, the Resurrection of Jesus, is totally different. It is not a once-and-done event in the life of Christ. Rather, the Resurrection is a present, relational reality. It is Christ alive and active in our world and in our lives, NOW. We do not reflect on the Resurrection scene to experience an Instagram moment, or to see what we can learn from it. We live Resurrection in the here and now, encountering Christ alive in our world, and in our lives NOW. Not a sacred once-and-done event from the past, but rather an encounter with the living Christ who is, in this very moment, drawing all people into the faith community and empowering them to live with hope and love in daily life, building a more just and peaceful world TODAY.

Psychologists agree that the number one desire of all women, men, and children is for relationship. Through the Eucharist and the liturgy, the faith community enters into ChristÕs risen life together. The Resurrection we celebrate today is a shared participation in divine life, not simply a historical memory. Theologian Jean Corbon defines it as a living relationship offered to believers and stresses that the risen Christ draws us into His own life and His communion with the Father through the Spirit. The Resurrection is not simply Jesus leaving the tomb; it is an invitation into the life of the Trinity, a life of relationship and love always.



Today, we celebrate the fulfillment of the promise made in the Garden. ÒI will not leave you orphans. I will be with you alwaysÓ (Jn. 14:18). And the Resurrected Jesus does just that. He lives and loves with us every moment of our lives. The gospels in the coming days show that Jesus does not leave His friends behind. He turns to them, speaking peace, sharing bread and calling them again into friendship. Easter reveals that GodÕs love is stronger than death and that the relationship begun in Christ will never be broken.

TodayÕs feast calls us not to merely imitate Jesus but to see and feel and act with Him. Today and every day, the Resurrection calls us not to merely remember the Easter story but rather to recognize the risen Christ drawing us into His own life and communion with the Father through the Spirit, bringing us into a life of relationship and love.

Theologians stress that the Resurrection creates a living community. The Eucharistic Liturgy brings us into that shared life. Easter, therefore, is not only about life after death but about a transformed life together, now. And so, we pray: Jesus, you call us to live your Resurrection.

Draw us into a deeper relationship
With you, with one another
And with all who long for hope.
Let your new life rise in us each day
So that through our kindness, listening, and care
Others may glimpse that you are alive.
Amen. Alleluia.
Read: John 20: 1-9
Reflect: 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, ÒThey have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we donÕt know where they put him.Ó 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.

The Gospel of the Lord
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Meet Sister Mary Ann Barnhorn, SNDdeN

Sister Mary Ann recently retired as Director of Development for the Ohio Province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She has been in provincial leadership for 15 years, served on a variety of provincial, inter-provincial, and congregational committees. She has also done work for the Church on a national level and served as chairperson of a high school religion department. Sister Mary Ann currently lives at Mt. Notre Dame in Cincinnati, Ohio.