Saint Dominic
contemplating the Scriptures
Acts 10:34-43
Cornelius, a centurion in the military force in Palestine, and already a believer in God, has had a vision. As a result, he has invited Peter to visit him and his household. It was against Jewish law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, but Peter comes anyway, with “some believers from Joppa”.
Isaiah 65:17-25
The people of Israel have prayed that God will reveal himself to them as he did in olden times. God has answered: “I was ready to be sought out” but no one sought my help. Israel was disobedient and self-centred, but God will preserve a faithful line whom he will choose.
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
Some at Corinth had difficulty accepting Jesus’ resurrection, in which humanity becomes immortal, for many considered only the soul to be immortal. Paul has written that if we deny the resurrection, we reject the very basis of the faith. If our faith in Christ is limited to this life, we have been had.
John 20:1-18
John tells us the events of the Sunday morning after Jesus died and was buried. Mary Magdalene has witnessed Jesus’ death on the cross and has been present at his burial in the tomb hewn out of the rock. The orderliness of the linen wrappings shows that the grave has not been robbed.
Luke 24:1-12
Joseph of Arimathea has wrapped Jesus’ body in a linen cloth and has laid it in a tomb carved into the rock face. The women have prepared the “spices and ointments” for embalming his body, but there was insufficient time to do so before the start of the Sabbath. Now, on Sunday (“the first day of the week”), they come to prepare his body for burial.
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