Reflecting on
The Resurrection of the Lord:
Easter Day

Year B

Prayer

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

On this day God has acted

 

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his steadfast love endures forever!

Let Israel say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

The Lord is my strength and my might;

he has become my salvation.

There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:

“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;

the right hand of the Lord is exalted;

the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”

I shall not die, but I shall live,

and recount the deeds of the Lord.

The Lord has punished me severely,

but he did not give me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness,

that I may enter through them

and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord;

the righteous shall enter through it.

I thank you that you have answered me

and have become my salvation.

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the chief cornerstone.

This is the Lord’s doing;

it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

 

Song of Solomon 3:1-11

The song of the lover

 

Upon my bed at night

I sought him whom my soul loves;

I sought him, but found him not;

I called him, but he gave no answer.

“I will rise now and go about the city,

in the streets and in the squares;

I will seek him whom my soul loves.”

I sought him, but found him not.

The sentinels found me,

as they went about in the city.

“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”

Scarcely had I passed them,

when I found him whom my soul loves.

I held him, and would not let him go

until I brought him into my mother’s house,

and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles or the wild does:

do not stir up or awaken love

until it is ready!

What is that coming up from the wilderness,

like a column of smoke,

perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,

with all the fragrant powders of the merchant?

Look, it is the litter of Solomon!

Around it are sixty mighty men

of the mighty men of Israel,

all equipped with swords

and expert in war,

each with his sword at his thigh

because of alarms by night.

King Solomon made himself a palanquin

from the wood of Lebanon.

He made its posts of silver,

its back of gold, its seat of purple;

its interior was inlaid with love.

Daughters of Jerusalem,

come out.

Look, O daughters of Zion,

at King Solomon,

at the crown with which his mother crowned him

on the day of his wedding,

on the day of the gladness of his heart.

 

Mark 16:1-8

Mark’s resurrection account

 

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.