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Saint Gertrude Parish - Lasne
Year B
On this page you will find:
The readings from the Mass
The Mass leaflet with the choice of hymns
A sample universal prayer available for download
In PDF format
In editable Word format
A meditation on the Sunday Gospel
A commentary to better understand the Gospel
A word for the road
April 14, 2024
3rd Sunday of Easter
"Thus it is written that Christ would suffer,
that he would rise from the dead on the third day,
and that conversion would be proclaimed in his name,
for the forgiveness of sins, to all nations,
starting with Jerusalem.
It's up to you to witness it.
Luke 24:46-48
Readings from the Mass
Lectio Divina
Mass leaflet
Universal Prayer
In today's liturgical readings, the word "witnesses" resonates twice. The first time, on the lips of Peter: after the healing of the paralytic at the gate of the Temple in Jerusalem, he exclaims, "You killed the author of life! God raised him from the dead, and we are witnesses of it" (Acts 3:15). The second time, on the lips of the risen Jesus: on Easter evening, he opens the minds of his disciples to the mystery of his death and resurrection and tells them, "You are witnesses of these things" (Luke 24:48). The apostles, who saw the risen Christ with their own eyes, could not remain silent about their extraordinary experience. He had shown himself to them so that the truth of his resurrection might reach everyone through their testimony. And the Church has the duty to continue this mission through time. Every baptized person is called to bear witness, through their words and their life, that Jesus is risen, that Jesus is alive and present among us. We are all called to testify to the fact that Jesus is alive.
We might ask ourselves: but who is the witness? A witness is someone who saw, who remembers, and who recounts. Seeing, remembering, and recounting are the three verbs that describe their identity and their role. A witness is someone who saw a reality with objective eyes, not with indifferent ones; they saw and were captivated by the event. That is why they remember, not only because they can accurately describe what happened, but also because these events resonated with them, and they grasped their profound meaning. So the witness recounts, not in a cold and detached manner, but as someone who has allowed themselves to be challenged, and who, since that day, has changed their life. A witness is someone whose life has changed.
The content of Christian witness is not a theory, nor an ideology, nor a complex system of rules and prohibitions, nor moralism, but a message of salvation, a concrete event, or rather, a Person: the risen Christ, living and the one Savior of all. He can be witnessed to by all who have had a personal experience with him, in prayer and in the Church, through a path that finds its foundation in baptism, its nourishment in the Eucharist, its seal in confirmation, and its continual conversion in penance. Thanks to this path, always guided by the Word of God, every Christian can become a witness of the risen Jesus. And their witness is all the more credible when it shines through in an evangelical way of life: joyful, courageous, gentle, peaceful, and merciful. If, on the contrary, the Christian allows himself to be taken in by comfort, by vanity, by selfishness, if he becomes deaf and blind to the call for "resurrection" of many brothers, how will he be able to communicate the living Jesus, how will he be able to communicate the liberating power of the living Jesus and his infinite tenderness?
May Mary our Mother support us through her intercession, so that we may become, with our limitations, but with the grace of faith, witnesses of the risen Lord, bringing to the people we meet the Easter gifts of joy and peace.
Homily
Pope Francis
For the 3rd Sunday of Easter
(April 19, 2015)
It's up to you to witness it.
Christelle Javary
in Magnificat
The powerful of this world, especially in our time, have clearly understood the importance of controlling their communication. Surrounded by an army of advisors, journalists, and influencers, they leave nothing to chance. Jesus has a very different method: he trusts. He entrusts his Apostles with the mission of proclaiming the good news of his resurrection "to all nations." "You are to be witnesses of it": "Yes, you, ordinary people whose weakness I know so well; yes, you, who denied me or abandoned me in the dark hours of the Passion."
Two thousand years later, the same words resound in our liturgy, and it is still to his disciples that Christ speaks. The average believer—each one of us—might be tempted to think that they are not concerned. “No doubt, Lord, you send the leaders, the officials of your Church on missions? That is to say, the Pope, the bishops, the priests, the religious…? No doubt, you call upon the experts, the specialists, the graduates? In short, the others, right…?” Well, no, down with false modesty and all the bad reasons for keeping the Gospel hidden away: no time, not competent, not a good enough Christian…
Lord, your life changes our life
No, being a witness is not "Mission Impossible"... Witnesses to what, anyway? That Jesus is alive and that this changes our lives. That he shares his own life with us and makes us more alive. That death has not disappeared but has been conquered, so that we are no longer its slaves. We are not witnesses of the risen Christ as we would be witnesses of a car accident and questioned by the police. We bear witness to that which gives us life. Moreover, it is collectively, in the Church, that we respond to Christ's call. In France, several initiatives are uniting energies, encouraging creativity, and nurturing the missionary zeal, founded on baptism: last September, the Mission Congress in several French cities; in October, the Kerygma gathering in Lourdes, specifically on the theme "It's up to you to be witnesses."
If Christ trusts us, he does not leave us orphans. It is through the Holy Spirit that the mission unfolds. The Apostle Peter is living proof of this. What a change since Pentecost! He who denied his Master to save his own skin speaks in public with boldness and clarity. In a few words, the essential message is conveyed: “You killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead—we are witnesses of this.” By calling the people to conversion for the forgiveness of sins, Peter carries out the plan laid out by Jesus. The fire of the Gospel is cast upon the earth; nothing will stop it.
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