Both the second reading choices speak of the way Christians are to live, and heard on Easter Sunday their message becomes a challenge to respond to resurrected life in Christ. To “think of what is above, not of what is on earth” does not mean to deny the world but to focus on Christ and what is spiritual.

There are four main plot lines in storytelling, rendered baldly with no curtseys to inclusive language. They are: Man against man. Man against society. Man against nature. Man against himself. All classic stories follow one of these principal arcs.

Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, “They took the Master from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.”

On a trip to London with her daughter, my aunt decided to go back to her hotel room early after a day of sightseeing while my cousin met up with some friends. My aunt got to her room, walked in, and to her surprise the room was empty.

Lord, On this day the Lord has made, we ask for the forgiveness of sins Christ promises us through him.

“They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.” When Saint Peter used these words it was an expression his Israelite audience would have immediately recognized. It came from the Torah.

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are an Easter people and hallelujah is our song. —Pope John Paul II