April 18-19, 2026
Dear parishioners,
As we are solidly in the Easter season now, the Scripture readings at Mass throughout this season will have us following the apostles and the Christian community around them as they grow in numbers and in their understanding of Christ’s mission of salvation, now entrusted to the Church. But before we move forward along this path in the coming weeks, I would like to take a moment here to look back at a theme that has been present in the last two weeks’ Gospel readings.
On Easter morning and on the 2nd Sunday of Easter, the Gospel reading came from John’s account of the Resurrection: Jn. 20:1-9 and Jn. 20:19-31, respectively. As you remember, Easter morning’s reading was about Mary Magdalene coming to the empty tomb early in the morning. Last weekend’s reading was about the apostles in the upper room. Jesus appeared first to the ten, then the following Sunday, he appeared again while Thomas was with them. But John begins his account of all three of these appearances with the same detail: that they all happened on “the first day of the week.”
Since the Jewish Sabbath was Saturday, the 7th day of the week, Sunday was the first day of the week. This, of course, followed the pattern of creation in which God rested on the 7th day of creation. But with the Resurrection, there was now a new Sabbath, and a whole new dimension of life shone forth. The Resurrection was both Jesus’ pledge to remain with us until the end of time (Mt. 28:20) in the sacraments, but also our hope for eternal life after the end of time. As such, the day of the Resurrection also came to be understood as the 8th day, that is, the start of the re-creation of man in God’s image and likeness. This concept pertains to the reception of the sacraments here on earth, and the eternal 8th day of the Kingdom of Heaven.
The theology of the 8th day is a theme that was taken up by many of the Fathers of the Church. However, it is worthwhile to note that it must have already been present in seminal form among the apostles and their followers. The common scriptural text that the early Fathers quoted was 2 Pt. 2:4-5, 9, “For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; […] then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment”. Other translations specifically mention Noah as the 8th person. Here, St. Peter is making a connection between Noah, the Flood, Jesus, baptism, and judgment. But he connects the number eight to all of them. Intriguingly, this is why many baptistries and baptismal fonts in the early centuries of the Church (some of them still intact today) were intentionally eight-sided. For the early Church, baptism was the pledge of the eternal 8th day, already present in mystery here on earth.
Likewise, then, John the Apostle is making the same connection when he remarks that Jesus’ appearances to Mary Magdalene and the apostles on Easter morning, and again to the apostles with Thomas the following Sunday happened “on the first day.” In fact, the translation used in the lectionary for Mass is quite unfortunate in this regard. It says that, “a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked…” Stricter translations say, “Eight days later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them.” See the connection John is making here? The confession and absolution of sins is one of the seven sacraments, and is therefore essential in the re-creation of man. It restores man to the state of grace, which he entered into at baptism, and it is a sure and certain remedy for our sins. In this way, our hope of the eternal 8th day of heaven is certainly attainable by the grace of God. After all, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath” (Mk. 2:26-28).
Blessings,
Fr. Ammanniti
