Yesterday we read the beginning of Mark’s brief account of the Resurrection (Mk 16:9-15).  Mark mentions that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene who in turn told the disciples who did not believe her.  Then he tells of Jesus’ appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who in turn told the disciples who didn’t believe them either.  Finally, Mark says that Jesus appears to the Eleven, rebuking them for not believing the others, and then telling them to do what is relayed in the headline of this post.  This message was not just for the Eleven, or only for their successor bishops, clergy, or religious.  It is meant for every believer.  So if this is our call, then how are we to fulfill it?  Any plan of action in which we seek to fulfill the Lord’s will must begin with prayer.  Jesus did it before the two biggest events in His life: embarking on public ministry and preparing for His Passion and death.  With prayer we find insight, strength, and perseverance.  We also develop a proper perspective and disposition toward God, others, and ourselves — and it all revolves around humility.  Understanding that all we are and all we have and all we give comes from God, that we are called to serve others, and that we are sinners in need of grace and repentance, allows us to be in the world precisely what God wants us to be.  Then by word and deed we can share the Good News by becoming Christ to others and seeing Christ in others.

It is John (21:1-14) with whom we pick up again today.  After the Resurrection, Simon Peter and six other disciples are back in Galilee when they decide to go fishing.  After having no luck, they hear from the shore a man (Jesus, unbeknownst to them) telling them to cast the net once more.  They do and it fills to the breaking point.  John then recognizes that it is Jesus and Peter immediately swims to meet Him.  When they all get to shore, Jesus is already cooking some fish but asks for some of theirs.  He invites them to breakfast, distributing bread and fish.  How many times has John’s exclamation found above been ours as well?  An improbable or miraculous event occurs, a seemingly hopeless situation gets resolved, a recalcitrant sinner comes back to the Faith, a potential tragedy is narrowly averted.  Our first inclination should be to recognize the Lord’s hand in such events, as John saw in the miraculous catch of fish.  We should often thank God for His kindness and guidance, certainly in extraordinary circumstances, but also in the difficulties and sadnesses of day to day living.  Seeing God’s will in all aspects of our lives will help us to overcome anxiety and fretfulness and learn submission and contentment.  If we love God, then what He wants will become what we want.  As St. Augustine said, “Love God and do what you will.”

We pick up today with the last verse from yesterday’s gospel passage (Lk 24:35-48).  As the disciples are recounting their Emmaus Road experience to the Eleven, Jesus appears in the midst of all of them.  They think they are seeing a ghost but Jesus admonishes them for their unbelief, telling them to observe His wounds and inviting them to touch Him if they must.  He even asks for and eats a piece of fish.  As is written above, He then enlightens them to the Scriptures and tells them that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (v. 47) is to be preached to all nations.  Note the sequence: 1) fear and doubt replaced by 2) belief in the reality of the Risen Lord 3) disposes us to be open to the truth of divine revelation 4) enabling us to proclaim the Good News to every person.  May we never be swayed by those who consider inconsequential — or flat out deny — the historicity of the Resurrection.  Without it, our faith is in vain (cf. 1 Cor 15:14).  Rather, let us unhesitatingly affirm this reality and all truth of this and the entire Sacred Deposit of the Faith Christ entrusted to the Church and which is safeguarded by the Holy Spirit.  Having and proclaiming the fullness of the Truth will draw many who have recognized the lies the world tells to embrace the fulfillment that Reality brings.  Never give anything less than a full-throated exposition of that Reality.

The Emmaus Road story alluded to in yesterday’s post is given to us today (Lk 24:13-35). Here Jesus appears to two of His disciples as they are going away from Jerusalem on the Sunday after the death of Jesus.  Jesus, unrecognized by the both of them,  asks them what they are discussing.  They tell Him of the events surrounding Jesus’ death, but also that they have been made aware of the empty tomb and the announcement that Jesus is alive.  Jesus admonishes them for their unbelief and then proceeds to do what is in the headline.  When they arrive at Emmaus they urge Jesus to stay with them.  He stays with them until the evening meal, at which time He blesses, breaks, and distributes bread.  At this moment the disciples recognize Jesus and He immediately vanishes.  With hearts afire, they head back to Jerusalem straight away to tell the Eleven what happened.  But before they relay their experience, the Eleven tell them that Simon (Peter) already has seen Jesus.  It is quite natural to wish that we could have heard Jesus’ entire exposition on the Scriptures as told on that road.  Wouldn’t it be great to have a transcript?  Well, the fact of the matter is that we do have a reliable witness and guarantor of the fullness of revealed truth: The Church.  Study of Scripture (the Bible comes from the Church) aided by the guidance of the Church is a sure way to understand how the entire Bible references Jesus.  But we must read Holy Writ, Church documents, and faithful commentaries in order to become familiar with the love story revealed to us.  Then we can also say, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” (v. 32)  It is Jesus who is speaking to us in every word of Scripture.  It is also Jesus who established His Church to speak truthfully on His behalf with the guidance of His Spirit.  May we ourselves come to realize that same joy of the disciples on the road to Emmaus as we listen to Jesus Word and recognize and partake of Him in “the breaking of the bread.” (v. 35)

Today we move back to John (20:11-18), picking up where we left off on Easter, to continue to read his rendition of events following the Resurrection.  This scene finds Mary Magdalene back at the tomb weeping.  She then encounters two angels inside the tomb and, turning around, sees Jesus but does not recognize Him until He calls her name.  He then orders her to go to the disciples with a message, which she does.  Mary’s first words to Jesus, after she recognizes Him, are at top.  Interesting, isn’t it?  It is as if she, by immediately addressing Him as teacher, is essentially asking Him to explain to her how it is that He is alive and what it means.  Jesus certainly answers this explicitly and at length in His time on the road to Emmaus with two of the disciples (Lk 24:13-35) who in turn told the Eleven. Undoubtedly Mary and many others had this episode relayed to them in the following days.  And of course the promise of the Spirit enlightened them all at Pentecost.  Do we appreciate Jesus’ role as teacher, reading Scripture assiduously and carefully to understand what He has to tell us and then try to live it?  Do we pay attention to the teaching authority of the Church that Jesus left us and which He promised to be with forever?  Do we take advantage of the reflection and scholarship on divine revelation by the saints and other faithful writers that has been produced over these last two thousand years?  In all this, do we ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and guide us?  Our eternal Rabbouni continues to instruct and longs for engaged students to enlighten and guide.  Let’s take advantage of this opportunity every chance we get.

For the remainder of the week, we will continue to do what was already begun the last two days: read gospel accounts about events after the Resurrection.  Today we move to Matthew (28:8-15), where we read about Mary Magdalene and a companion coming from the empty tomb only to encounter Jesus Himself.  He tells them to go to His disciples and inform them to go to Galilee where He will meet them.  At that very time, the chief priests and elders bribe the tomb guards to lie and say that Jesus’ body was stolen by His disciples (a story that was circulated still at the time of Matthew’s writing).  The utterance at top was the first words out of Jesus’ mouth as He approached the women.  Comforting words for them and for us during extraordinarily trying times.  Jesus, taking on the weight of an entire history of sin manifested in the agony, torture, and death He endured, has overcome it all on our behalf to open up the possibility of life eternal with Him.  Of what she would be afraid?  As difficult as it may get for us, whether in suffering in a manner physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual, we have no need to fear.  In this life, Jesus walks with us, and if need be, carries us, through it all if only we place full trust in Him.  Whatever the circumstances, no matter how painful, if we stick with Christ, in the next life we have the blessed hope of hearing one day: “Well done, my good and faithful servant….Come, share your master’s joy.” (Mt 25:23)  There, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, [for] the old order has passed away.” (Rev 21:4)  Be not afraid!

For Easter we turn back to John (20:1-9) for his (first person) rendition of the events surrounding the Resurrection.  The episode begins with Mary Magdalene finding the tomb empty and quickly going to Peter and the author of the gospel, telling them the line at the top of this post.  The two men then quickly head for the tomb, John arriving first but deferring to Peter to be the first to enter.  Both see the wrappings in which Jesus was buried.  When John enters he sees and believes (v. 8) as he now begins to understand what Jesus meant about His rising from the dead.  Mary’s declaration, at first glance, does not seem to comport with Mark’s rendition of the events in the immediate aftermath of the Resurrection (see yesterday’s post).  Mark tells us that Mary and two other women saw a man in the tomb who gave them instructions on what to say to Peter.  But recall that the women were frightened and may well not have believed what they saw in the man or, if they believed in him, they may not have believed what he said.  Or they were unsure of themselves or reluctant to tell others of it.  This makes Mary’s words at top more understandable: one thing she can say for sure is that the tomb is empty.  Why share other dubious details that may call her story into question (cf. Lk 24:10-11, Mk 16:11)?  Whatever the case may be, we know for sure where we can find the Lord.  His real presence can be found in every Catholic church in the Eucharist.  Visit Him often.  He also appears at every Mass in Word and Sacrament — partake weekly and more often if at all possible (of course reading the Bible should be a daily encounter with the Lord for us).  He also comes to us in every person we meet, especially the poor, the sick, the stranger, the downtrodden, and the criminal or other “undesirable.”  How do we treat these “least” (Mt 25:31-46)?  Finally, He should be seen in us in every person we encounter.  We know that Jesus rose from the dead as He promised He would; our faith is not in vain (cf. 1 Cor 15:14).  Now let us share that Resurrection faith with joy and without reserve.

There is no Mass for Holy Saturday, but there is a Mass in the evening: a vigil anticipating Easter Sunday.  The gospel reading is taken from the beginning of the last chapter of Mark (16:1-7).  It tells the story of the three women who went to Jesus’ tomb with the intention of anointing His body.  They arrive to find the stone that was over the entrance moved aside.  Upon entering the tomb they are greeted by a man in white who tells them that Jesus has risen and has gone ahead of them to Galilee, but that they should tell Peter and the disciples what they have seen.  Unfortunately, for many of us, these words of the man in the tomb have lost their power to amaze.  Knowing the story of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection from little up, it is easy to let the episodes and details become old hat.  But today’s reading invites us to consider anew Jesus’ triumph over death.  Let us imagine ourselves as a companion of these women.  Expecting nothing but to find Jesus’ body and tenderly take care of it as custom demanded.  Then they encounter a totally unexpected sight: the stone removed and a miraculous man in Jesus’ place.  What wave of emotions were theirs (as we read in the verse following this reading): fear, confusion, astonishment.  We need not fear and we certainly should not be confused.  But let us regain that astonishment.  Only the death of God overcomes death, and only His raising of Himself brings us life.  Jesus, tortured and killed for our sins, proclaims victory over death by rising from the dead.  He is our hope for entrance into heaven and that we too will be raised on the last day.

The Good Friday liturgy (no Mass today — the only day of the year on which that occurs) brings us the Passion Narrative from John (18:1-19:42).  We start with the arrest of Jesus in the garden, His being taken off to see Annas (the father-in-law of the high priest), then after questioning to Caiaphas, then to Pilate in the praetorium who finds Him not guilty but offers Him or Barabbas to the crowd, followed by the scourging and crowning of Jesus, again questioning of the crowd by Pilate, His being sent away to be crucified, then speaking to His mother and John from the cross, His dying, and finally Jesus’ body being taken away and entombed by Joseph of Arimathea.  It is appropriate to remember this day the immense suffering that Jesus underwent on behalf of all mankind.  We do not point to the Romans or Jews of His time as His torturers and killers.  They were only instruments used to effect our salvation.  They were no more guilty than the rest of us.  Jesus underwent torment and death out of love for all persons.  Consequently, for love of Him, we do not want to add to His pain by sinning (even those “little” ones so easy for us to brush away but so abhorrent to God).  Rather, we should unite to His agony the small and large sufferings that we endure (cf. Col 1:24).  “We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.”

Anticipating this evening’s Mass of the Lord’s Supper, we look at the gospel in which we again pick up John’s telling of the events of the final Passover meal Jesus shared with his apostles (Jn 13:1-15).  We read of Jesus washing the feet of His apostles in which He, when finished, tells them that while He is their master and teacher, He humbled Himself in this task.  They are to do the same for others as He notes in the closing statement at top.  Thomas à Kempis’s fifteenth century treatise, Imitation of Christ, is one of the most widely read books in history.  Highly recommended, as it has stood the test of time, in page after page it gets to the heart of what Jesus tells His closest friends just hours before His suffering and death.  If He felt it necessary to demonstrate the importance of humility in service in such a dramatic way at such a difficult time, then we must take seriously to heart the need to do likewise.  Jesus is the model for us.  In order to follow this model properly He has given us the Church through which we have Scripture, Tradition, and the authoritative teaching and safeguarding of His Truth in the Magisterium.  With such a wonderful gift we must learn Christ (through the prayerful reading of the Bible, Catechism, and other good works) so we can imitate Him here on earth so as to be happy with Him forever in Heaven.  If the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, God Himself, can stoop down to not only become one of His creatures, but to serve them, how much easier should it be for us to do the same for our own brothers and sisters in the human family.  Let us pray for the graces to live humility and service, graces no more abundantly available than at this time as we enter this holy Triduum.