Reacting to Death

Gospel: Mark 16: 9-15

This week we have seen various reactions to the death and resurrection of Jesus.  In today's Gospel portion, Mark recounts the persistent disbelief of the apostles.  Shut away in the upper room, they are paralyzed by fear and their own cowardice over the death of Jesus.  They are not open to the experiences and testimony of others that the life of Jesus continues on and that death has not won the day.  They are in a tomb of their own making.

We have also seen disciples return to their former way of life as if nothing at all had happened.  Jesus had died; he had risen from the dead.  But these events have had no impact on their lives.  They live as they had previously, and that led to fruitless effort with no results.  But upon the appearance of the risen Jesus in their midst, they do encounter new life and new success in their old endeavors.

Finally, we have the women - the only ones who were present at the death of Jesus.  They are the only ones with the courage to come to the tomb to perform the necessary rites of burial, to anoint the body of Jesus and to say the necessary prayers.  They have faced his death and burial head on, and they would be rewarded with seeing Jesus risen first.  They would be the first to believe and to tell others.  These women show us how to face death and how to be open to resurrection and new life.