Mary was in a hurry to share what she had found; and by her sharing, a small community took up the search for Jesus…only to eventually have “Christ”…“The Risen One” reveal himself to them all.
Imagine what it must have been like: to have all your dreams and hopes beaten, tortured, nailed to a tree and die…all before your very eyes. And, THEN TO SEE “THAT ONE” ALIVE, RISEN FROM THE DEAD! HOW COULD IT BE?...AND, YET He is here in our midst…and “our hearts burn within us”!
Though we know well the Easter story, can we ever fully grasp its meaning? The stone has been rolled away…the tomb is empty for resurrected life cannot be contained!
Like the first believers, we so often must continue to live even with our dashed hopes, our suffering and our misunderstanding of God’s mysterious power.
Like the first believers, we come to the tomb and expect to find death, but instead we find signs of a new life that we cannot even begin to comprehend.
Like the first believers, we do not realize that all of history has been broken open and is now filled with the resurrected presence of the Risen One!
Even in the midst of war and famine, even in the midst of our own suffering and loss, the presence of the Risen One IS WITH US, AND NEVER LEAVES US. NO MATTER HOW ALONE OR FAR AWAY WE FEEL, JESUS NEVER LEAVES US!
It is this presence that gives us the strength to carry on and speak truth to power, to stand up for the poor and the marginalized and fight against evil in all its ugly forms that we know so well.
Christ has Risen…this is the day the Lord has made…let us rejoice and be glad!!!
Like Mary Magdalene and the other disciples let us actively seek the risen One in our midst…in the ordinary of our daily lives. For as surely as Christ appeared to the disciples, Christ now appears to us in our lives!
Let us keep our eyes, ears and hearts open to the presence of the Risen One. Let us, like Mary Magdalen, run forth to share the good news of Jesus Christ with all the world!
I pray you all, God’s most abundant Easter Blessings!
Fr. Tim