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Acts 10: 34, 37 - 43
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34
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And Peter opened his mouth and
said: "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality,
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37
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the word which was proclaimed
throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John
preached:
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38
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how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing
all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
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39
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And we are witnesses to 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;
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40
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but God raised him on the third
day and made him manifest;
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41
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not to all the people but to us
who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose
from the dead.
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42
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And he commanded us to preach to
the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God to be judge of
the living and the dead.
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43
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To him all the prophets bear
witness that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins
through his name."
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Psalms 118: 1 - 2, 16 - 17, 22 - 23
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1
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O give thanks to the LORD, for he
is good; his steadfast love endures for ever!
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2
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Let Israel say, "His
steadfast love endures for ever."
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16
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the right hand of the LORD is
exalted, the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!"
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17
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I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the LORD.
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22
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The stone which the builders
rejected has become the head of the corner.
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23
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This is the LORD's doing; it is
marvelous in our eyes.
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Colossians 3: 1 - 4
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1
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If then you have been raised with
Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right
hand of God.
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2
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Set your minds on things that are
above, not on things that are on earth.
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3
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For you have died, and your life
is hid with Christ in God.
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4
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When Christ who is our life
appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
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1 Corinthians 5: 6 - 8
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6
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Your boasting is not good. Do you
not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
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7
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Cleanse out the old leaven that
you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal
lamb, has been sacrificed.
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8
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Let us, therefore, celebrate the
festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with
the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
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John 20: 1 - 9
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1
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Now on the first day of the week
Mary Mag'dalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that
the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
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2
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So she ran, and went to Simon
Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them,
"They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they
have laid him."
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3
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Peter then came out with the other
disciple, and they went toward the tomb.
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4
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They both ran, but the other
disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first;
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5
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and stooping to look in, he saw
the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.
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6
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Then Simon Peter came, following
him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying,
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7
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and the napkin, which had been on
his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.
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8
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Then the other disciple, who
reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;
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9
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for as yet they did not know the
scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
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**************************************************************
* Jesus Christ is risen today for us. Let us rejoice and be glad. He was born, that we might be born with Him. He lived, suffered and died for us, that we
might have life. We adore, praise and
give Him thanks for all He has done for us.
He continues to give us life every day of our lives, especially when
this life ends there is the eternal life waiting for us because it was won for
us by His dying and rising to new life.
* There are people who doubt their faith in Jesus in
varying degrees. Some doubt a little,
while others have grave doubts. When difficulties
come our way we doubt. When some
misfortunes befall us and we do not deserve them we doubt. When the Lord takes away our belongings, our
dreams, our loved ones or our health we doubt.
Problem is if we lose our faith in moments like these, when we are
losing a lot of things, persons or ourselves, what do we have if not our
faith? Who do we have if not the
Lord? It is in these moments when we
must with more faith be nearer to our Lord.
We may have already lost the world, should we also lose our God?
* The Church in its beginnings was comprised of very
few people. The first believers in Jesus
were just a grain of sand in the desert, a drop in the midst of the ocean. As time went by our numbers increased until
today we find ourselves a force to be reckoned with in the world arena. The message of Christ remains the same but is
always new as we discover it anew in its multi-faceted reality. But who will relay the message to the people
at large, to the whole word really, if the religiously active members of the
Church are but a small fraction of the total number? We see that in chapels, in churches and
streets. Our churches should be filled
to overflowing every Holy Mass but they are not. In some places less and less are frequenting
the Holy Mass. This is not for our
disappointment but for our encouragement.
We are encouraged, like the first Christians before us, to really spread
with our words the Word, Jesus the Word made Flesh. We spread the word through our words; we
spread the Word through our lives. Even
in our meager number we are still a force to be reckoned with. We are catalysts for change. Strong a force we can be, if each and every
one of us here would take personally and to heart our faith in Jesus, the Risen
Lord. Even with our reduced numbers we
can change the world, so that it may be imbibed with the evangelical spirit,
with the Spirit of the Lord. Few were
the first Christians but they multiplied.
When people see how we love our Lord and we love one another, when
people see how we live, when people hear what we have to say in testimony to
our Lord, then they will be attracted to our faith and we will make disciples
of them. It was like that then, it is
like that now. Although we are few as
churchgoers, our number is enough for the success of the mission entrusted to
us by the Risen Lord.
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