After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
And behold, there was a great earthquake;
for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.
His appearance was like lightning
and his clothing was white as snow.
The guards were shaken with fear of him
and became like dead men.
Then the angel said to the women in reply,
“Do not be afraid!
I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.
He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.
Matthew 28:1-6a
My dear friends in Christ,
Mary Magdalene had barely slept for two nights. When she would begin to drift off, she was filled with an overwhelming sense of doom. Had she just had a nightmare? Then she would awake to the awful reality that it had really happened. She had stood there and seen all her hopes evaporate. Her relationship with Jesus had completely changed her life. She had lost her equilibrium. What did her life even mean without him?
In her grief, she and her friend Mary made their way to the tomb that Sunday morning. Maybe it would bring her some comfort to be close to where his body lay. When she arrived, she was shaken from her stupor. An earthquake. An angel. The stone rolled back. Could it be? Then the light of hope pierced the gloom that had overtaken her. He was alive! He had risen! And she would soon learn that she would never have to live without him. He would promise, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt 28:20)
And that is Jesus’ promise to you and me. I have had a dramatic experience of the power of Jesus’ resurrection in my own life in this past year. When I came to consciousness on the pavement last June , I was not sure whether I was in this world or the next. But I knew that Jesus was with me. And through long months of hospitalization and the hard work of rehab, all sustained by your love and prayers, I have been remade in body, mind, and spirit. I am a walking miracle. And I am still on this earth for a purpose. And at least part of that purpose is to witness with new conviction that Jesus is here. He is real. And he is with you now in both your joys as well as your struggles and sorrows.
He is risen. Truly risen. Alleluia!
Easter blessings with much love,
Fr. Jim