Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems;
Christ, who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:
The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living,
The glory of Jesus’ resurrection;
bright angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;
to Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed;
let us then feast with joy in the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead.

St. Anthony Church in the Brier Hill in Youngstown keeps once again its unbroken tradition of making Easter Bread. This year they used 2,940 eggs to make 1,370 loaves of Easter Bread. There were over 25 volunteers from St. Anthony, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and even other parishes to bake a very good Easter Bread.  The hand-braided loaf is sweet, moist, and light.  The risen dough reminds believers at the Easter Meal of the Risen Christ.  Easter Bread is an awesome tradition — the risen baked bread and the Risen Christ. No words are really needed. It kind of speaks for itself.

My mother in her tireless effort to teach me the ways of the world would often say, “Words are cheap, my son.”

I think of that often because we all sense profoundly that actions speak louder than words.  Our Lord, on Holy Thursday after He gave the Catholic Church His Most Holy Body and Blood at the First Mass, washed the feet of the Apostles.  There was an action, no words.  Good Friday — everybody else does the talking. His was an action of suffering, nailed to the Cross, dying for our salvation and that of the whole world — not mere words.  The Holy Shroud of Turin — a miraculous picture of Jesus without words.  The breaking from the grave, the empty tomb and the Risen Lord appearing to followers over and over — actions which speak louder than all the words on earth.

As Saint Paul tells us on the Easter Sunday, be like the yeast of Bread; let your life rise like the Risen Christ — new and fresh, kneaded with the yeast of a greater Fatih, Hope and Love than ever before.  The one-word Alleluia is an action word; the once-dead and now-Risen Christ is the Light that breaks all darkness before now, now, and forever. Therefore, Alleluia!

Remember, my son, my daughter, words are cheap.  Your actions speak louder than words.

Truly Christ is risen, He is truly risen! Let your action draw others to Him. Alleluia!

Monsignor Michael J. Cariglio, Jr., Rector & Pastor, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica – Saint Anthony Parish

Peter proceeded to speak and said:
“You know what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.
We are witnesses of all that he did
both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.
This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible,
not to all the people, but to us,
the witnesses chosen by God in advance,
who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
He commissioned us to preach to the people
and testify that he is the one appointed by God
as judge of the living and the dead.
To him all the prophets bear witness,
that everyone who believes in him
will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

R  (24) This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R  Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R  This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R  Alleluia.
“The right hand of the LORD has struck with power;
the right hand of the LORD is exalted.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.”
R  This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R  Alleluia.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
R  This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
or:
R  Alleluia.

Brothers and sisters:
If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.

It has long been a Catholic understanding that when circumstances prevent one from receiving Holy Communion, it is possible to make an Act of Spiritual Communion, which is a source of grace. Spiritual Communion is an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and lovingly embrace him at a time or in circumstances when one cannot receive Him in sacramental Communion. The most common reason for making an Act of Spiritual Communion is when a person cannot attend Mass. Acts of Spiritual Communion increase our desire to receive sacramental Communion and help us avoid the sins that would make us unable to receive Holy Communion worthily.

Spiritual Communion Prayer

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul.

Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

I embrace you as if you were already there

And unite myself wholly to you.

Never permit me to be separated from you.

Amen.