Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday [12 April 2020] is Easter Day, and the readings in the Revised Common Lectionary as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland are:
Readings: Acts 10: 34-43 or Jeremiah 31: 1-6; Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24 or the Easter Anthems; Colossians 3: 1-4 or Acts 10: 34-43; John 20: 1-18 or Matthew 28: 1-10.
This leaves us with a complicated choice, and the Church of Ireland Directory is specific: ‘When the Old Testament selection is chosen, the Acts reading is used as the second reading at Holy Communion.’
This posting looks at Saint John’s account of the Resurrection, but also asks how this Gospel reading fits in with the other Lectionary readings for Easter morning, and what makes the account in the Fourth Gospel different from the Resurrection accounts in the other three Gospels, in particular the optional reading from Saint Matthew’s Gospel.
There is a link to the readings HERE.
The Easter Anthems, which are not included in this link, can be found in the Book of Common Prayer (2004), p 88 (Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer 1), pp 104-105 (Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer 2), and pp 120-121 (Canticles).
When the Old Testament selection is chosen on Easter Day, the Acts reading is used as the second reading at Holy Communion.
In addition, this posting includes separate suggestions on the celebration of the Easter Vigil on Saturday night.
Jeremiah 31: 1-6:
In the Old Testament reading (Jeremiah 31: 1-6) we read a prophecy that the exile will end, that God will not desert Israel. It depicts the return from exile as a new exodus. The people ‘found grace in the wilderness’ (verse 2), God loved them then and his love is ‘everlasting’ (verse 3). The nation of Israel will be rebuilt, the people will make merry, and agriculture will prosper (verse 5).
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24:
On Easter morning, how joyful it is to proclaim the well-known verse that concludes the reading from this psalm:
‘This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it’ (Psalm 118: 24).
In this psalm (Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24), we are called to give thanks to God for his mercy and love, which are everlasting. The one who was rejected is now God’s chosen ruler, and all shall share in the power and blessing of God.
We can read an Easter theme back into this song, where the Psalmist expresses his faith that:
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death (Psalm 118: 17-18).
Now he can enter the Temple (verse 19) to give thanks to God (verse 20). He has suffered greatly, but God has preserved his life.
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone’ (Psalm 118: 22).
In the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Peter speaks after his arrest to the Sanhedrin of the Risen Christ, describing him as ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; [he] has become the cornerstone’ (Acts 4: 11). Saint Paul too refers to Christ as ‘the cornerstone’ (see Ephesians 2: 20).
This is the day to rejoice and be glad.
Colossians 3: 1-4:
In the Early Church, the Baptism of new believers took place at Easter. In the Epistle reading (Colossians 3: 1-4), Baptism is described as sharing in Christ’s suffering and death and being raised with Christ to new life in Christ.
So, Baptism has ethical implications for our discipleship: we are to cast aside both sins of the body and of the mind. In the baptised community, ethnic and social barriers are shattered, for ‘Christ is all and in all.’
Acts 10: 34-43:
Despite the complicated presentation of the reading options in the Revised Common Lectionary, the expectations in the RCL and the guidelines in the Church of Ireland Directory are that the reading from the Acts of the Apostles will be read on Easter Day.
The setting is the house of Cornelius, a centurion and part of the Roman military occupation force in Palestine. Cornelius, already a believer in God, has a vision (verses 1-8). As a result, he invites Peter to visit his household. It is against Jewish law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, but Peter comes nonetheless, with ‘some … believers from Joppa’ (verse 23).
The Greek here is rough, full of grammatical errors, unlike the rest of the Acts of Apostles. This may indicate that here we may well have Saint Peter’s unedited, original words and phraseology. He tells the assembled company that God does not favour Jews over others: anyone, whatever his or her nationality, who reveres God and lives in unison with him ‘is acceptable to him’ (verse 35).
In verses 36-38, Saint Peter summarises Christ’s earthly ministry and applies prophecies in Isaiah (52: 7 and 61: 1) to Christ. Christ is Kyrios, the ‘Lord of all’ (verse 36). In Baptism, the Father ‘anointed’ Christ (verse 38) ‘with the Holy Spirit’ and with the ‘power’ of God. The good news (‘message,’ verse 37) spread throughout Palestine (‘Judea’). He ‘went about’ (verse 38) ‘doing good’ and combatting evil, doing deeds so powerful that it is clear that he was God’s agent: he is a model for all to follow.
He suffered death as one guilty of a capital offence (see Deuteronomy 21: 23): he hung on a ‘tree’ (verse 39) and was cursed. By Christ’s time, the ‘tree’ or pole had an additional cross-arm. But, although cursed, the Father ‘raised him’ (verse 40) and ‘allowed him to appear’ to those chosen by God to be ‘witnesses’ (verse 41).
In Saint Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 28: 1-10), the witnesses to the Resurrection take hold of his feet, so he was clearly humanly alive again, brought back from death physically, resurrected. Christ the Kyrios is the one appointed by God to set up the Kingdom and to judge both those who are alive and those who have died at Judgment Day (verse 42).
Then in verse 43, we are told he fulfils many Old Testament prophecies. He is the one through whom sins are forgiven. Forgiveness is now available to ‘everyone who believes,’ and not just to Jews.
John 20: 1-18:
Early on the Sunday morning (‘the first day of the week’) after the Crucifixion, before dawn, Mary Magdalene, who has been a witness to Christ’s death and burial, comes to the tomb and finds that the stone has been rolled away.
Initially it seems she is on her own, for she alone is named. But later she describes her experiences using the word ‘we,’ which indicates she was with other women.
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, these women are known as the Holy Myrrhbearers (Μυροφόροι). The Myrrhbearers are traditionally listed as: Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and Joses, Mary, the wife of Cleopas, Martha of Bethany, sister of Lazarus, Mary of Bethany, sister of Lazarus, Joanna, the wife of Chuza the steward of Herod Antipas, and Salome, the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and Susanna, although it is generally said that there are other myrrh-bearers whose names are not known.
Mary and these women run to tell Saint Peter and the other disciple (presumably Saint John the Evangelist) that they suspect someone has removed the body. The ‘other disciple’ may have been younger and fitter, for he outruns Saint Peter. The tidy way the linen wrappings and the shroud have been folded or rolled up shows that the body has not been stolen. They believe, yet they do not understand; they return home without any explanations.
But Mary still thinks Christ’s body has been removed or stolen, and she returns to the cemetery. In her grief, she sees ‘two angels in white’ sitting where the body had been lying, one at the head, and one at the feet. They speak to her and then she turns around sees Christ, but only recognises him when he calls her by name.
Peter and John have returned without seeing the Risen Lord. It is left to Mary to tell the Disciples that she has seen the Lord. Mary Magdalene is the first witness of the Resurrection.
All four gospels are unanimous in telling us that the women are the earliest witnesses to the Risen Christ. In Saint John’s Gospel, the Risen Christ sends Mary Magdalene to tell the other disciples what she had seen. Mary becomes the apostle to the apostles.
The word apostle comes from the Greek ἀπόστολος (apóstólos), formed from the prefix ἀπό- (apó-, ‘from’) and the root στέλλω (stéllō, ‘I send,’ ‘I depart’). So, the Greek word ἀπόστολος (apóstolos) or apostle means one sent.
In addition, at the end of the reading (see verse 18), Mary comes announcing what she has seen. The word used here (ἀγγέλλουσα, angéllousa) is from the word that gives us the Annunciation, the proclamation of the good news, the proclamation of the Gospel (Εὐαγγέλιον, Evangélion). Mary, in her proclamation of the Gospel of the Resurrection, is not only the apostle to the apostles, but she is also the first of the evangelists.
John 20: 1-18 (NRSVA)
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 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.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and 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. 13 They 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.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus 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.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus 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.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Matthew 28: 1-10:
Do you find it difficult to get up early in the morning?
I used to find it difficult to get up early on two different types of mornings. There were those mornings when I was a schoolboy and I knew I had not done my homework. I found it difficult not so much to wake up as to get up: to face up to my responsibilities, and to take the consequences of not meeting my own responsibilities.
And there were those mornings when I found it difficult to get up because I had been allowed to stay up too late the night before. I was not in trouble, but my body sure was.
But, looking back on your childhood, there were mornings when it was not difficult to wake up early in the morning at all:
● Christmas morning was an easy morning to wake up early. Perhaps looking for Santa’s presents. It was exciting. There was a lot to look forward too.
● Birthdays are always full of surprises when you are young and full of life.
● The morning of a big football match or sporting fixture, or a music competition, the sort of event that fills a child’s stomach with butterflies.
● The first day of holidays: the beginning of an exciting time, setting off on a journey, somewhere wonderful, somewhere that offers excitement and the prospect of a great time.
And there are times of sadness, times when people have slept uneasily because of what lies ahead:
● Being woken up in the dark, fearing what is happening outside, or even in the house inside, those nights when you are unable to get back to sleep, wondering and worrying about what has happened.
● Before going into hospital to have a test or operation.
● The night before a funeral, especially the funeral of someone you love and who has been close to you.
These are sad times to remember, although years later we are glad those doctors operated, glad to look back with fond memories on members of our family, because long after they have died we still love them and their love for us is still real.
In this alternative Gospel reading (Matthew 28: 1-10), we hear how Mary Magdalene was up while it was still dark, long before morning had broken. It was Passover. But her reasons for being awake while it was still dark and for rising early are not because of any holiday excitement or expectation. She could not sleep the night before because someone very precious – the most important person in her life – had died.
And yet this story moves from one that begins with being one of the saddest reasons for getting up so early, to being one of the most joyful reasons for being up early in the morning.
At the beginning, it is as though she was going through the worst of times in her life.
But then the story suddenly changes. It is as though all her Christmases, all her birthdays and all her holidays have come together, and much, much more.
Jesus has died, died in the most awful way, late on Friday, and he was buried late on Friday evening, just as it was getting dark.
Then, Saturday was a day when no-one in the Jewish world could do anything. You could not open the fridge, turn on the light, cook the dinner. The small group of people who had buried Jesus had to wait until early on Sunday morning to go and sort out things at the grave.
The two Marys did not get to sort out those things – it had been such a hurried burial, things would have been in a mess. He would not have been put in a proper shroud. His eyes would not have been set closed … all those messy things that most of us do not have to even think about these days, thanks to the professionalism of funeral directors.
And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb, probably bringing with them spices and nice clothes, and things like that … things that remind us of the swaddling clothes that Jesus was wrapped in as a baby, and the spices the Wise Men brought to him as his first birthday presents on that first Christmas.
And when they find that the stone has been rolled away and the body is missing.
Could someone have been there before her?
So, as the other Gospel reading (John 20: 1-18) tells us, she runs back and tells Simon Peter and John the Beloved Disciple.
Sometimes I think we men are not very good at making deductions – at looking for the whole picture. When these two men look inside the tomb, at first they take everything at face value. They see the neatly-folded linen wrappings and the head cloth in the grave.
We are told that they see and believe. But belief does not lead to faith or action. Instead of looking around to see where Jesus might be, what do they do? They return to their homes.
If we had relied on what they had done after what they had seen, would we have ever realised the significance of that first Easter?
They look inside, they see an empty gave, and then they go home again.
But Mary comes back to the garden, and decides it is worth hanging on to see what has happened. And because she waited, because she wondered, because she questioned, she was there to have first encounter with Jesus as the Risen Lord.
She now realises what it was all about. What those past three years with Jesus were all about. What Jesus was trying to say to them all the time as he preached, as he told them parables, as he healed, as he went fishing, as he had meals with them and as he fed them all.
Can you imagine her excitement? A dark night of waiting is turned into the most glorious morning. The spices and clothes they were bringing are no longer needed. Instead, here is the most wonderful present possible. Human hate been defeated by God’s love.
She is so excited that she cannot help herself from hugging onto Jesus so tight that he has to tell her, not ‘Do not hold onto me,’ as it is translated so often in an insipid way, but in the original Greek Μή μου ἅπτου, which might be better translated as ‘stop holding onto me,’ or ‘stop clinging onto me.’
Oh, that we would all want to cling onto the Risen Christ so tightly. Oh, that we were all filled with such joy in Christ, not just on Easter morning, but every morning.
Because nothing can ever be that bad any more. Because God loves … you.
Easter means that all the fears we have in the middle of the night, all the fears you have early in the morning, are nothing compared to how God wants to take care of you, mind you, love you, to have you cling on to Christ and for Christ to cling onto you.
God has rolled away all the big stones that get in the way between you and him, between me and him, between us and him. We only have to look for ourselves and to believe. And that is why Easter should be better, is better, that all the Christmases and all the birthdays and all the other special treats rolled together.
Matthew 28: 1-10 (NRSVA)
1 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’
‘Noli me tangere’ – a reflection:
In Saint John’s Gospel, when Mary first sees Christ, she does not recognise him. In this reading, the Greek is regularly phrased in the present tense: Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb (verse 1), she sees (verse 1), she runs, she comes, and she says (verse 2); John sees (verse 5), Simon Peter then comes, and he sees (verse 6); Mary sees the two angels (verse 12), they say to her and she says to them that she does not know (verse 13); she then sees Jesus (verse 14); Jesus says to her (verse 15, and again verses 16 and 17) – notice this is three times in all; and she then comes announcing what she has seen and heard.
The language is constantly punctuated with ‘and’ giving it a rapid, fast-moving pace, rather like the pace in Saint Mark’s Gospel. This is a present, real, living experience for all involved, and not one single episode that be relegated to the past.
The Risen Christ does things he did not do before: he appears in locked rooms, there is something different about his appearance, his friends do not realise immediately who he is. This is the same Jesus, but something has changed.
Why does Jesus tell Mary: ‘Do not hold onto me’ (Μή μου ἅπτου, Noli me tangere)?
How do we recognise new life in the Risen Christ?
How do understand the invitation from the Risen Christ to feast with him?
When we accept the new life Christ offers, how does our vision change?
Where do we see the presence of the Risen Christ?
Do we see his presence in the people and places we like and that please us?
Can we see him in the people we do not like to and in the situations we find challenging? – the hungry child, the fleeing refugee, the begging person on the street, the homeless addict sleeping on the street or in the doorway?
Is my heart changed by the Risen Christ?
Where do I see the broken and bruised Body of Christ needing restoration and Resurrection?
Do I know him in the word he speaks to me and in the breaking of the bread?
Is the presence of the Risen Christ a living experience for me, this morning?
Is Easter an every-morning, every-day, living experience for me, or one we all-too-easily relegate to the past and to history?
Planning the Easter Vigil
The celebration of Easter may begin after sundown with the Easter Vigil or the Midnight Eucharist on what is liturgically Easter Sunday, although it is still Saturday evening in calendar.
Traditionally, the Easter Vigil consists of four parts:
● The Service of Light
● The Liturgy of the Word
● The Liturgy of Baptism, which may include the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation for new members of the Church and the renewal of Baptismal Promises by the rest of the congregation
● The Eucharist
The Liturgy begins after sundown as the crowd gathers inside the unlit church, in the darkness, often in a side chapel of the church building, but preferably outside the church. A new fire, kindled and blessed by the priest, symbolises the light of salvation and hope that God brought into the world through the Resurrection of Christ, dispelling the darkness of sin and death.
The Paschal Candle, symbolising the Light of Christ, is lit from this fire. This tall candle is placed on the altar, and on its side five grains of incense are embedded, representing the five wounds of Christ and the burial spices with which his body was anointed. When these are fixed in it and the candle is lit, it is placed on the Gospel side of the altar and remains there until Ascension Day.
This Paschal candle will be used throughout the season of Easter, remaining in the sanctuary of the Church or near the lectern. Throughout the coming year at baptisms and funerals, it reminds all that that Christ is ‘light and life.’
All baptised people present – those who have received the Light of Christ – are given candles that are lit from the Paschal candle. As this symbolic Light of Christ spreads throughout those gathered, the darkness diminishes and dies out.
A deacon or a priest carries the Paschal Candle at the head of the entrance procession and, at three points, stops and chants the proclamation ‘Light of Christ’ or ‘Christ our Light,’ to which the people respond: ‘Thanks be to God.’
When the procession ends, the deacon or a cantor chants the Exultet, or Easter Proclamation, said to have been written by Saint Ambrose of Milan. The church is now lit only by the people’s candles and the Paschal candle, and the people take their seats for the Liturgy of the Word.
The Liturgy of the Word consists of between two and seven readings from the Old Testament. The account of the Exodus is given particular attention as it is the Old Testament antetype of Christian salvation.
Each reading is followed by a psalm and a prayer relating what has been read in the Old Testament to the Mystery of Christ.
After these readings, the Gloria is sung, and during an outburst of musical jubilation the people’s candles are extinguished, the church lights are turned on, and the bells rung. The altar frontals, the reredos, the lectern hangings, the processional banners, the statues and the paintings, which were stripped or covered during Holy Week or at the end of the Maundy Thursday Eucharist, are now ceremonially replaced and unveiled, and flowers are placed on the altar.
A reading from the Epistle to the Romans is proclaimed, and the Alleluia is sung for the first time since the beginning of Lent. The Gospel of the Resurrection then follows, along with a homily.
After the Liturgy of the Word, the water of the baptismal font is blessed, and any catechumens or candidates for full communion are initiated. After these celebrations, all present renew their baptismal vows and are sprinkled with baptismal water. The general intercessions follow.
The Easter Vigil then concludes with the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This is the first Eucharist of Easter Day. During the Eucharist, the newly baptised receive Holy Communion for the first time, and, according to the rubrics, the Eucharist should finish before dawn.
The Easter Vigil readings (11 April 2020):
Old Testament Readings and Psalms:
Genesis 1: 1 to 2:4a; Response: Psalm 136: 1-9, 23-26;
Genesis 7: 1-5, 11-18; 8: 6-18; 9: 8-13; Response: Psalm 46;
Genesis 22: 1-18; Response: Psalm 16;
Exodus 14: 10-31; 15: 20-21 and Exodus 15: 1b-13, 17-18;
Isaiah 55: 1-11; Canticle 23: Song of Isaiah (Isaiah 12: 2-6);
Baruch 3: 9-15, 32 to 4: 4 or Proverbs 8: 1-8, 19-21, 9: 4b-6; Response: Psalm 19;
Ezekiel 36: 24-28; Response: Psalm 42 and 43;
Ezekiel 37: 1-14; Response: Psalm 143;
Zephaniah 3: 14-20; Response: Psalm 98.
New Testament Reading and Psalm:
Romans 6: 3-11; Response: Psalm 114.
Gospel: Matthew 28: 1-10.
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: White (or Gold).
The Greeting (from Easter Day until Pentecost):
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Penitential Kyries:
Lord God,
you raised your Son from the dead.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord Jesus,
through you we are more than conquerors.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Holy Spirit,
you help us in our weakness.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ
you have overcome death
and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:
Grant that, as by your grace going before us
you put into our minds good desires,
so by your continual help we may bring them to good effect;
through Jesus Christ our risen Lord
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Collect of the Word:
Glorious Lord of life,
by the mighty resurrection of your Son
you overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we,
who celebrate with joy Christ’s rising from the dead
may be raised from the death of sin
to the life of righteousness:
through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, now and for ever.
Introduction to the Peace:
The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said, Peace be with you. Then were they glad when they saw the Lord. (John 20: 19, 20).
Preface:
Above all we praise you
for the glorious resurrection of your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord,
the true paschal lamb who was sacrificed for us;
by dying he destroyed our death;
by rising he restored our life:
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Living God,
for our redemption you gave your only-begotten Son
to the death of the cross,
and by his glorious resurrection
you have delivered us from the power of our enemy.
Grant us so to die daily unto sin,
that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his risen life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing:
The God of peace,
who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus
that great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the eternal covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight:
or:
God the Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,
raise you up to walk with him in the newness of his risen life:
Dismissal: (from Easter Day to Pentecost):
Go in the peace of the Risen Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Christ is Risen … a Resurrection scene in a stained-glass window in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)Suggested Hymns:
The hymns suggested for Easter Day (Year C), in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling, include:
Acts 10: 34-43:
250, All hail the power of Jesu’s name
263, Crown him with many crowns (verses 1-4)
264, Finished the strife of battle now
91, He is Lord, he is Lord
271, Jesus Christ is risen today
96, Jesus is Lord! Creation’s voice proclaims it
102, Name of all majesty
306, O Spirit of the living God
197, Songs of thankfulness and praise
286, The strife is o’er, the battle done
491, We have a gospel to proclaim
Jeremiah 31: 1-6:
569, Hark, my soul, it is the Lord
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24:
683, All people that on earth do dwell
326, Blessèd city, heavenly Salem (Christ is made the sure foundation)
327, Christ is our corner stone
282, Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good (Surrexit Christus)
714, Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might
715, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Lord Almighty
334, I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart
340, Sing and be glad, for this is God’s house!
678,Ten thousand times ten thousand
78, This is the day that the Lord has made
493, Ye that know the Lord is gracious
Easter Anthems (I Corinthians 5: 7-8; Romans 6: 9-11; I Corinthians 15: 20-22):
258, Christ the Lord is risen again
328, Come on and celebrate
264, Finished the strife of battle now
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
703, Now lives the Lamb of God
108, Praise to the Holiest in the height (verses 1-4, 7)
283, The Day of Resurrection
286, The strife is o’er, the battle done
186, What Adam’s disobedience cost
Colossians 3: 1-4:
251, Alleluia, alleluia, hearts to heaven and voices raise
272, Jesus lives: thy terrors now
427, Let all mortal flesh keep silence
392, Now is eternal life
284, The golden gates are lifted up
287, The whole bright world rejoices now
John 20: 1-18:
256, Christ is risen, as he said
87, Christ is the world’s light, he and none other
258, Christ the Lord is risen again
74, First of the week and finest day
265, Good Joseph had a garden
271, Jesus Christ is risen today
338, Jesus, stand among us
424, Jesus, stand among us at the meeting of our lives
273, Led like a lamb to the slaughter
274, Light’s glittering morn bedecks the sky 277, Love’s redeeming work is done
107, One day when heaven was filled with his praises
283, The Day of Resurrection
288, Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son
115, Thou art the Way: to thee alone
290, Walking in a garden at the close of day
Matthew 28: 1-10:
255, Christ is risen, alleluia!
256, Christ is risen, as he said
258, Christ the Lord is risen again!
74, First of the week and finest day
693, Glory in the highest to the God of heaven!
269, Hark ten thousand voices sounding
271, Jesus Christ is risen today
274, Light’s glittering morn bedecks the sky
277, Love’s redeeming work is done
107, One day when heaven was filled with his praises
288, Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son
115, Thou art the Way: to thee alone
491, We have a gospel to proclaim
An Easter theme in a window in Holmpatrick Church, Skerries, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
The hymn suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000).
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