Friday in the Second Week of Easter, April 17, 2026

John 6, 1-15

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

“Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.”  Previous to writing about the feeding of the five thousand, John the Apostle had written of the Lord disputing with the Jews in Jerusalem, so his appearance now in Galilee comes abruptly.  “Across the sea” may indicate its eastern side, south of Bethsaida, a little fishing town on the coast.  Here John calls the freshwater lake of the region “the Sea of Galilee”, although he will call it “the Sea of Tiberias” at another time.

“A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.”  The crowd followed him across or around the sea “because they saw the signs he was performing”, and not to be cured themselves.  They wanted to see more signs, or learn more about the man who had performed them.  Some may have connected the miracles with the possibility that this man was the Messiah.  “Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.”  He may have gone up the mountain soon after arriving “across the Sea of Galilee” in order to pray or to teach his disciples.  The crowd would have come not all at once but in small groups.  They saw him leave on the boat and knew what direction it was heading so they could estimate it’s destination.  Then some of the people who had gathered to hear him got into boats and followed him, and some went the long way around the coast.

“The Jewish feast of Passover was near.”  John has a reason for word he writes.  He gives the time of the feeding of the five thousand in order to connect it to the Passover on which the Lord would feed his Apostles the Bread of Life.  

“He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do.”  The Lord often tested the Apostles in their understanding of his teaching and in their faith.  He prepared them for the testing they would undergo after they went out to the world to preach the Gospel.  “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.”  Philip does some quick math here.  He is a practical, literal minded man and does not see what could be done for the crowd.  He also does not ask Jesus what he proposes to do, since it is his idea that something should be done.  He does not connect the people in the wilderness with Moses and the people in the wilderness with Jesus.  God fed the people with manna and there was enough for everyone to eat as much as they wanted.  He does not wonder what Jesus will do.  “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?”  likewise, Andrew fails to make the connection that as God fed the people with manna, so Jesus would feed the people now.  

“Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted.”  He distributed them through the Apostles, employing them as “ministers”, from the Latin word originally meaning “attendants” or “waiters”.  Jesus makes the abundance, the Apostles serve it.  “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.”  The Greek word translated here as “wasted” means “lost” or “destroyed”.  The Lord did not want the leftover pieces of bread and fish to be lost.  He had given thanks to the Father for them and so they must be saved and put to good use.  Perhaps they were brought to the nearby town of Bethsaida for the poor there to eat.  Certainly Jesus did not cause them to be collected in baskets simply to be left there in the wilderness.  The amount of food leftover, which everyone in the crowd could see in the baskets, far exceeded what there had been to begin with.  It was an astounding miracle.  In fact, it impressed the Evangelists so much that all four of them include the story of this miraculous feeding in their Gospels.  It is the only one of the Lord’s miracles found in all the Gospels.

“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”  The people here recognize Jesus as the successor of Moses, who had asked God to feed the people, and who promised them a Prophet: “The Lord your God will raise up to you a Prophet of your nation and of your brethren like unto me [Moses]: him you shall hear . . . And the Lord said to me: I will raise them up a Prophet out of the midst of their brethren like to you: and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him” (Deuteronomy 18, 15; 17-18).  “Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.”  The crowd equated the Prophet promised by God as the Messiah who would restore Israel, and so they were determined to make him their king, possibly swearing their loyalty to him and marching with him on to Jerusalem.  The Lord does not attempt to argue with the crowd but goes to the upper reaches of the mountain by himself.  It was enough for now that they understood him to be greater than Moses.  He would teach them again, soon, and reveal to him exactly who he was.

Thursday in the Second Week of Easter, April 16, 2026

John 3, 31-36

The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.

Today’s Gospel Reading concludes chapter 3 of St. John’s Gospel.  For the sake of clarity and in order to show the context of this Reading, it may be helpful to have an outline of this chapter: verses 1-15, Jesus and Nicodemus speak together: Jesus declares that he is the Son of Man who came down from heaven and that he is here to save the world, not to restore Israel; verses 16-21, John the Apostle speaks of the love of God that brought Jesus from heaven and our need for faith in him; verses 22-30, John the Baptist testifies to Jesus as the Messiah; verses 31-36, John the Apostle elaborates on the Baptist’s words and tells how Jesus, the Messiah comes from God, was sent by God, and speaks the truth about God.

“The one who comes from above is above all.”  John premises his comment by summing up the Lord’s words: “And no man has ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3, 13).  “The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.”  Here John contrasts the one “who comes from above” and so speaks “heavenly things” with the earthly man, again drawing on the Lord’s words: “If I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not: how will you believe, if I shall speak to you heavenly things?” (John 3, 12).  “But the one who comes from heaven is above all.”  John makes clear that one one who “comes from above” comes from heaven, from the realm of God and the spiritual realities.  Because he comes from “above”, he is “above all”.  It might be added here that the word translated as “from above” can also mean “from the beginning”, which connects these verses with John 1, 1: “In the beginning was the Word.”

“He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.”  John has posited the one from above and the ones who speak of earthly things and now he shows that they are in conflict.  The Son of God tells what he has seen and heard from the Father.  He speaks of heavenly things.  But his testimony is rejected by those who speak earthly things because it is all they understand and they do not want to know about heavenly things.  His testimony is rejected not because it is false or defective in some way but because those who reject it prefer to cling to earthly things, the transitory and ultimately unfulfilling pleasures of this world.  “Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.”  This sounds like a tautology, but we read it already believing that “the one whom God sent” is trustworthy.  He tells us what he has heard from God, and that God is trustworthy.  We believe what God has told the Son because the we believe in the Son.  Because of the Son, we have heard the words of the Father.  “He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.”  It is through the Spirit who inspired the Evangelists and who has been poured out on us that we know the words the Son heard from the Father.

“The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.”  The Lord himself said, “All things are delivered to me by my Father” (Matthew 11, 27).  From all eternity, the Father begot the Son and simultaneously gave him “all things”.  With the Father and the Holy Spirit, he possesses all power over everything in existence.  This giving by the Father is an act of love for the Son.  The Father holds nothing at all back from him but gives him everything.  We call what the Son gives the Father “obedience”, and is an act of love for him.  “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.”  Belief and disobedience are set as contradicting each other.  If we do not obey the Son, we do not believe in him.  It is not enough merely t0 know about God: “You believe that there is one God. You do well: the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2, 19).  We must love him too.

Wednesday in the Second Week of Easter, April 15, 2026

John 3, 16-21

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  After John has recorded the discussion between Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus, he speaks on his own account (John 3, 16-21).  This seems like a continuation of his prologue (John 1, 1-18), in which he speaks of Jesus as the Word and as the Light who came into the world.  Now he speaks of the Lord as the Love that came into the world.  It is the immeasurable love of the Father in the Person of his only-begotten Son.  He comes into the world not as a spectator but as the Redeemer of the human race.  He offers salvation to all, and all who believe in him — those who know him, love him, believe in him, and obey his commandments — will be saved.  Faith means obedience: “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14, 15).  Faith means performing good works: “Faith without works is dead” (James 2, 20).  And faith is to be practiced openly.  It is not some private pious exercise: “For if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him up from the dead, you shall be saved” (Romans 10, 9).  That is, we not only say the words and perform the deeds, but these come from our hearts where we nourish our faith in the Lord Jesus.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”  Truly, the Lord does not condemn anyone, but recognizes the condemnation that so many people bring upon themselves through their doing evil, harming both themselves and others.  The harm they cause others will eventually heal, but the harm they cause themselves, rendering their souls incapable of heaven, only heals through repentance and the confession of sin.  Chief among these evils the wicked commit is the rejection of the Lord Jesus: “Whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.”  This is the rejection of the love of God, without which there is no happiness.

“And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.”  The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is “the Light” that came into the world to show the love of God to the world.  But very many people preferred to live outside of his love because they did not want to give up their evil lives, to repent, and to live in charity with others and with God.  So many human beings prefer their self-absorption and pursuing their selfish pleasures to living honestly and eschewing sensual pleasure for spiritual joy.  “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.”  That is, so that they may not have to take responsibility for their ugly snd destructive works and lives.  

“But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.”  To “live the truth” means to live the Faith, obeying the Lord’s commandments and awaiting his return.  Those who live the Faith “come to the light” — are unafraid of the scrutiny of their deeds by others — so that their deeds may attest to their faith and draw others to God.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  These are words to fill our hearts with joy.  We see in them God’s will for our salvation.  And we can read these words in a very personal way too, for they are meant for each of us: “God so loved me that he gave his only-begotten Som, so that if I believe in him I might not perish but might have eternal life.”

Tuesday in the Second Week of Easter, April 14, 2026

John 3, 7-15

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “You must be born from above.  The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus answered and said to him, “How can this happen?” Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

“You must be born from above.”  The Lord Jesus, the Son of God who was made man into to save the world from sin, is speaking to Nicodemus, a leading Pharisee, who wonders if Jesus is the Messiah.  That is, he wonders if Jesus is the one who will lead Israel against the Romans and reestablish the Kingdom of Israel.  The Lord is leading him past his very worldly understanding of the Messiah to the true, spiritual understanding.  Thus, he speaks of being reborn of water and Spirit, and the need for this in order to see the Kingdom of God.  This kingdom will not be the earthly kingdom Nicodemus and the Pharisees expect to see with their eyes but a kingdom of the spirit: the Lord’s Mystical Body.

Nicodemus listens intently but it is hard for him to shift his thinking: “How can this happen?”  The Greek text has, “How can this be?”  The distinction is that the Kingdom of God does not “happen” so much as it simply “is”.  Or, perhaps, Nicodemus as he strains to understand, is asking, “How can I accept this?”  “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?”  The Lord is not mocking or rebuking the Pharisee, but telling him that he in fact does possess the tools he need in order to understand the Lord’s teaching.  “Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony.”  The Lord here is speaking of the other Pharisees, those who will not believe and do not seek understanding.  He is also chiding Nicodemus to rethink all that he knows of the Scriptures.  Jesus will do much the same thing with the Apostles after his Resurrection: “Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” (Luke 24, 45).  

“If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”  “You” here is in the plural, according to the Greek text, so the Lord is not asking this of Nicodemus but  the Pharisees in general and all of us.  He asks if he teaches about spiritual realities using earthly figures, such as birth, water, and the wind, and we do not believe, how will we believe if he speaks to us of spiritual realities without using earthly figures?  Jesus speaks in this way to make it clear, again, that he is speaking of the spiritual realm when he speaks of the Kingdom of God.  After three years of teaching this, one would think that at least his disciples would get it, but some of them do not, even up to the time of the Ascension: “Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel?” (Acts 1, 6).  

“No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.”  The Lord is confirms to Nicodemus that he is indeed the Messiah, the Savior, for the Son of Man, he says, has come down from heaven.  This also indicates that the Son of Man is not merely a man chosen by God, but one whose proper home is in heaven.  He is divine.  “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”  The Greek word translated here as “lifted” can also mean “exalted” and so we look at its context to understand which is meant: Moses put the bronze serpent on a pole that was raised so those afflicted by the bite of the seraph serpent might look upon it and recover.  Therefore, Jesus is saying that he will be raised up onto a pole or something similar so that people may look upon him and be cured of some condition.  Since the result of the cure will be “so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life”, we can understand looking upon him lifted up will cure them of their sins which prevent them from entering eternal life.  Jesus means that he will be “lifted up”, then, and in a specific way.

We should often look upon a crucifix throughout the say in order to draw our minds back to our Lord so that we might do all things to please him who suffered for us.

Monday in the Second Week of Easter, April 14, 2026

John 3, 1-8

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?” Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

“A Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.”  From the evidence of the Gospels. Many if not most of the Pharisees opposed Jesus, seeing his rejection of their interpretation of the Scriptures as a rejection of Judaism.  But exceptions such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea did exist.  These sought to understand the Lord by asking him honest questions.  They had to be careful though lest they come under suspicion from the others of being his followers.  

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.”  Nicodemus, instead of jumping to false conclusions, carefully considered the facts about the Lord: he had seen with his own eyes the miracles Jesus had performed and drawn the correct conclusion that these cures could only have been accomplished through the power of God.  Since this was so, who was this Jesus?  Who did he claim to be?  Was he the Messiah?  The discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus that follows, as reported by St. John, comes across as fragmentary or as highlights, yet in John’s report we hear the Lord teaching clearly about the Holy Spirit as a divine Person, revealing this to one who was willing to learn.  The questions Nicodemus asks may sound rather simple, almost childish, but he follows the Greek system of dialogue as practiced by Socrates and Plato, establishing basic principles and then building upon them. 

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus opened with an admission that he believed Jesus to be a teacher who had come from God.  Jesus answers his unspoken question as to whether he is the Messiah who is come to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth and expelling the Romans.  The Kingdom of God, he says, is not what so many seem to think.  It can indeed be seen, but not with the eyes.  It is not a physical place.  It is invisible and can only be seen through grace.  This grace comes upon those who are “born from above”, transformed by grace.

“How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?”  The Pharisee’s question shows understanding.  He grants the Lord’s premise of a man being born again and asks how this can be.  By contrast, another Pharisee would have denied that this could happen, have hurled insults at Jesus, and stormed off.  “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”  Jesus explains what he means by being born again: he confirms that it is not a physical rebirth but a spiritual regeneration through “water and Spirit”.  John shows, throughout his Gospel, what the Lord means by “water” — grace and life, that is, a sharing in the life of God.

“The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  The Lord says this to make clear to Nicodemus the distinction between a human born of the Spirit and one born only of the flesh, and in this way helps him to understand the Holy Spirit.  He emphasizes the invisibility of the Spirit.  To us today, they seems very straightforward, but the Pharisees and the people of the time had a  materialist idea of God, the angels, and heaven.  In speaking like this, Jesus is weaning Nicodemus off the Messiah as a military leader.

Sometimes we also reduce God to a material being on our minds, despite our knowing that he is spirit.  He is transcendent, far beyond what we can conceive.  He is Love that overwhelms and transforms and never ceases.  He cannot be contained in a name, for “God” is a sort of title rather than an actual name.  He is infinite and ever present in the hearts of those who love him.  Knowing him better enables us to love him more and thus to believe in him with greater faith — faith that will be turned into knowledge when we behold him in his Kingdom.

Sunday within the Octave of Easter, April 13, 2026

John 20, 19–31

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”  Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail-marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”  Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

St. Thomas passionately believed in Jesus.  When the Lord turned to go back to Judea, where the had recently tried to kill him, he counseled the other Apostles, who were resisting, “Let us go with him that we might die with him” (John 11, 16).  He was not speaking on mere impulse but from his great conviction that Jesus was the Lord.  All the more crushing for him, therefore, was the Lord’s crucifixion and Death.  The immensity of his grief may have caused him to avoid the company of the Apostles that Easter Sunday evening when the Lord appeared in the house where he had eaten the Last Supper with them, and where they had taken refuge from the Jews.  His refusal to accept the claims that the Lord was risen also come from his devastation.  That is why he goes so far as to say, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail-marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”  That is, it would not be enough for him merely to see Jesus — he must touch his wounds.

Because Thomas’s doubt comes not from malice, as in the case of the Pharisees,  but from his grief, the Lord appears to him and bids him believe.  And Thomas does: “My Lord and my God!”  According to both tradition in the West and the testimony of the Christians in India, Thomas made his way through eastern lands, eventually arriving in India, where he preached the Gospel and founded the Church there.  Indeed, the Indians preserve a tradition according to which Thomas even visited China.  This would make him the most traveled of the Apostles, a proof of his burning belief in the Lord Jesus.

We can grow in our faith in Jesus by persisting in our belief in him through the good and hard times in our lives.  Regular reading of the Scriptures, especially the Gospels, helps, and meditation through the rosary is of great profit as well.  We help ourselves in these ways and God grants us grace too.  Most of all we should pray, and best of all we should pray before the Blessed Sacrament where, with our hearts, we can touch the wounds of Jesus.

Saturday within the Octave of Easter, April 11, 2026

Mark 16, 9–15

When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country. They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either. But later, as the Eleven were at table, Jesus appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”

St. Mark’s Gospel follows Jesus breathlessly through the first events at the beginning of his ministry and the last few months of his life on earth, but his account of the Resurrection disappoints.  In fact, two accounts of the visit of the Resurrection are given.  The first, Mark 16, 1-8, ends as though a fragment with the women thoroughly frightened by the appearance of the angel st the tomb.  The second, Mark 16, 9-20, seems not to be by Mark but by another another.  Its legitimacy in the Gospel, however, is shown by the numerous early Greek texts of the Gospel which include it.  It is also found in all the early pre-Vulgate texts excepting one, and Jerome included it in the Vulgate.  The Catholic Church guarantees that it is divinely inspired through its making the Vulgate its official Bible at the Council of Trent.

“When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.”  The four Gospels, written at different times in different places for diverse audiences all remarkably tell us that the Lord appeared first to Mary Magdalene.  We might expect one or another of them to simply not mention her or the other women but to go right from the angel rolling back the stone to the appearance of the Lord to the Apostles.  But each Evangelist thought it essential to speak of Mary.  John even goes into considerable detail in his description of the Lord’s appearance to her.  

“She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping.”. This detail about their “mourning and weeping” only appears in this Gospel.  Otherwise, we get a picture of the Apostles sitting around in the dark, their minds on how to hide from the Jews who might be looking for them.  “When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.”  Grief has a way of reinforcing itself, and perhaps this is happening here: their grief had so overcome them that they could not believe that the Lord was alive.  This verse would seem to contradict what is said in the Gospel of John about Peter and John running to the tomb after Mary Magdalene delivered her message, but the verse may be a general summary of the condition of the Apostles without mentioning that Peter and John had seen the empty tomb and come back without seeing Jesus. “After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country. They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either.”  This verse greatly condenses the story from Luke of the two disciples who met Jesus on their way to Emmaus.  However, “but they did not believe them either” seems to contradict Luke’s description of the Apostles already convinced of the Lord’s rising.  The problem arises from the fact that only a very condensed version of the encounter is related.  It could be that some of the Apostles believed and others did not with the result that we are told “his companions . . . did not believe.”  Similarly, Jesus appeared “as the Eleven were at table”: we know from the Gospel of John that Thomas was not present for the Lord’s first appearance to the Apostles on Easter Sunday evening.  The author is simply making a generalization, as when we might say, “The eyes of the world are on this”, when we might mean tens of thousands or a million people and not everyone on the earth at the time.

“Jesus appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.’ ”  This verse is the reason the unbelief was emphasized in this ending to the Gospel: these disheartened, disbelieving men must have seen something in order for them to indeed go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel.  These broken-hearted men were not easy to convince.  Mere witnesses who had seen the Lord, and whom they knew and trusted, could not convince them.  Only the Lord himself could have convinced them that he was alive.  And if they were convinced, despite everything, it follows that we must be convinced too.  John makes this same point in his Gospel with his report on the Lord’s appearance to Thomas, who had doubted even when the other Apostles had seen him.

We should mourn and weep not over the loss of Jesus but over our own possible loss of eternal life due to our sins, but let our grief be tempered by the joy of the Resurrection, for the Lord Jesus has opened heaven for us.