By FATHER PETER MURPHY
Over the past week, Friday in particular, we have commemorated the events of Our Lord’s suffering and death. This Sunday, we are celebrating His Resurrection: He must have Risen some time during the night, since the Gospel Reading tells us that when the women went to the tomb, very early in the morning,
He had already risen. This was “the first day of the week”, Sunday. Since Our Lord completed the work of our redemption on this day, ever since, Christians have commemorated the Resurrection of Our Lord, and indeed their Salvation, by offering up the Holy Eucharist, the Mass, every Sunday.
In the Letter of St Paul to the Romans, we are told how Christ has saved us from slavery to sin and death and restored us to life, making us His children once more, through His own death and resurrection, and through the waters of Baptism. When we consider how much Our Lord has suffered for us, and when we consider what He has given us, we can ask ourselves the question, “How can I repay the Lord for His goodness to me?” The answer is: “The Cup of Salvation I will raise.”
We can repay the Lord by coming to Mass and offering up His Sacred Body and Blood in thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father.
So, if someone asks you, “Why do you go to Church on Sunday?”, you can say that you go to Mass to give thanks to God for having saved you, given you His own Life, and the promise of Eternal Life in Heaven. On this wonderful Easter Day, this Sunday, when we rejoice at our Creation and our Redemption, far from being ungrateful, let us show Our Lord an abundance of gratitude. Let us ask ourselves, “How can I repay the Lord for His goodness to me?”; and answer, “The Cup of Salvation I will raise.” And never let a Sunday pass without doing so.