This year may be the one in which John’s resurrection account is likely to be chosen over Mark’s, perhaps because Mark’s gospel ends so abruptly, with astonishment and fear rather than joyful proclamation. Yet Mark may speak to our experience more directly than the other gospels. Corinthians and Acts fill out the story by telling of appearances of the risen Christ. Peter says we “ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” And so do we, in a foretaste of the mountaintop feast where death will be no more.
Readings and Psalm
Isaiah 25:6-9 (alternate)
First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-9
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
7And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
8he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Psalm: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
God’s mercy en- | dures forever.
2Let Israel | now declare,
“God’s mercy en- | dures forever.”
14The Lord is my strength | and my song,
and has become | my salvation.
15Shouts of rejoicing and salvation echo in the tents | of the righteous:
“The right hand of the | Lord acts valiantly!
16The right hand of the Lord| is exalted!
The right hand of the | Lord acts valiantly!”
17I shall not | die, but live,
and declare the works | of the Lord.
18The Lord indeed pun- | ished me sorely,
but did not hand me o- | ver to death.
19Open for me the | gates of righteousness;
I will enter them and give thanks | to the Lord.
20“This is the gate | of the Lord;
here the righ- | teous may enter.”
21I give thanks to you, for you have | answered me
and you have become | my salvation.
22The stone that the build- | ers rejected
has become the chief | cornerstone.
23By the Lord has | this been done;
it is marvelous | in our eyes.
24This is the day that the | Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be | glad in it.
Second Reading: Acts 10:34-43
Gospel: John 20:1-18
11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.