From Easter until Pentecost, except for last weekend, the third readings are primarily taken from the Gospel according to Saint John. There is an over-riding principle by which the Fourth Evangelist chose to include the incidents and speeches in the life of Jesus that underlie those passages. This principle is found in the original ending of the Fourth Gospel, in these last two verses of Chapter 20, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, ant that through this belief you may have life in his name” (Jn 20:30-31).
1. On Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty and, having heard it, the disciples Peter & the Beloved Disciple engage in a foot race to the location.
2nd Sunday. Jesus, risen, appears in the Upper Room, to give the Spirit to His disciples, to show them His wounds, to commission them to forgive sins, and finally to have Thomas confess: My Lord and My God.
3rd Sunday. Luke 24:35-48. In Jerusalem, Christ appears to the disciples, who mistake Him for a ghost. He invites them to touch and see His wounds. Then, He eats with them.
4th Sunday. Unlike hirelings, the Good Shepherd sacrifices Himself for the sheep that He guides. Those who recognize the shepherd’s voice will reach their longed-for happiness; indeed, Jesus said, “I lay down my life in order to take it up again.”
5th Sunday. Jesus, ascended, prepares our places in Heaven; to reach them one must follow the way of Jesus, which is the true way, a way that leads to life. You must believe that in seeing Jesus, you have seen the Father. I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.
6th Sunday. In the Johannine vocabulary, the word remain or abide has a distinctive significance – “remain in my love,” Jesus said. Then, He gave the new commandment – Love one another as I love you.
7th Sunday. Often identified as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus, Jesus is now an intercessor addressing God the Father, though still petitioning God for His disciples then and now. His earthly life is in the past, so He prays that all may be one.
8th Sunday—Pentecost. In John 15, Jesus promises to make up for His absence by sending another Paraclete (Gk. Παράκλητος). Jesus was one Paraclete, now there will be Another, the Holy Spirit. The word Paraklētos has multiple meanings: It can mean consoler, encourager, defender or advocate. Such was Jesus, and such will be the Spirit.
Given the multiple weekend Gospel readings of Eastertide, you can better understand the fifty days of Easter, if you look upon them as did John: they are a variety of examples and distinctive sayings that all aimed at assuring those who contemplate them hat Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, so that we might have eternal life – eternal life is communion with God in Christ and not simply a destination to reach after death. Eternal life is the anchor of existence, and as such it transcends death. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life (Gk. ζωὴν αἰώνιον)” (Jn 3:16).
Excerpted from John Kilgallan, SJ. Eastertide Gospels. America. 10 April 2008
Nature and dignity 