The International Communion of the African Episcopal Church

Resurrection Sunday
Sunday, March 31, 2024

The Collect:
O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
or this
O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord’s resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
or this
Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
or this
Love divine, in raising Christ to new life you opened the path of salvation to all peoples. Send us out, with the joy of Mary Magdalene, to proclaim that we have seen the Lord, so that all the world may celebrate with you the banquet of your peace. Amen.

The First Reading:
Acts 10:34-43 NRSV
34 
Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 
35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 
36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 
37 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 
39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 
40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 
41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 
42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 
43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’
or this
Isaiah 25:6-9 NRSV
6
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death for ever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

The Psalm:
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 NRSV
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;*
his steadfast love endures for ever!
Let Israel say,*
‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’
14 The Lord is my strength and my might;*
he has become my salvation.
15 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:*
‘The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
16 the right hand of the Lord is exalted;*
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.’
17 I shall not die, but I shall live,*
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord has punished me severely,*
but he did not give me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,*
that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;*
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me*
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected*
has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing;*
it is marvellous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;*
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

The Epistle:
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 NRSV
Now I should remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good newsthat I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 
through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 
and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 
and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sistersat one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 
Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me. 
For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 
11 Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

The Gospel:
John 20:1-18 NRSV

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. 
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.’ 
Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. 
The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 
He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 
Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 
and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 
Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 
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[a] 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 round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 
15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ 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,[b] ‘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.