Easter 2021

 

“Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed…”  

-John 20:8

 

I wonder what stopped the first disciple from entering the tomb. We are told this unnamed disciple outran Peter, but he stopped at the entrance. He could see inside the tomb, he saw the initial evidence that Jesus’ dead body was no longer present; he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.

 

After two thousand years of history, we can easily miss out on the intensity of the confusion and fear that permeates this account of the story. Just last night, for example, Mark’s telling of these events uses the terms “terror and amazement” to describe how these early witnesses felt.

 

Today, during the great Solemnity of Easter, I felt no fear, but a little amazement as some people received the Blessed Sacrament and went directly to the door and left this great Eucharistic celebration. How did it get to this? Has complacency replaced fear and amazement? Has the impulse to consumer-based religion replaced seeing and believing? Has apathy replaced navigating the disorientation of our current age and its myriad issues?

 

This Easter season I am hopeful we can focus on the source of hope that bursts forth amid so much fear, disorientation, confusion, complacency and apathy. To abide in this hope, we must move from bystanders who look in from a distance to also going in to see and believe for ourselves. It will help us accept the challenges that come our way, even in our current age, as we tenaciously focus on the hope that bursts forth - Christ. He who desires that we be alive in our humanity by accepting His invitation to participate in His divinity. The hope proposed by Christ is not something that would have one leave early but yearns to make this hope known in a world that desperately needs hope. He is risen indeed! Alleluia!