Fearful Yet Overjoyed

Gospel: Matthew 28: 8-15

The women have some fear at accepting this mission to tell the men about the resurrection of Jesus, and for good reason.  They know that the men won't believe them.  Throughout the Gospels the men have not believed angels about the coming of John the Baptist and Jesus.  They have not believed women about those things either.  The men have not even believed Jesus when he spoke about his impending death and resurrection.  The women know for certain that they will not be believed.

The men will likely be indignant as well.  How could the women be the first to encounter the risen Jesus? How can they be entrusted with passing on this message to others? From that time on the menfolk have made sure the women would be silenced, and that Mary Magdalene's personage would be maligned later in history by the menfolk.  The women have plenty of reasons to have fear at receiving this mission and carrying it out.  

Yet despite the fear, the women proceed with the mission, given added encouragement from the Lord who appears to them to reassure them.  The Lord himself knows the men will not believe the women; they did not believe him!  We too are sent into an unbelieving world to live a life of joy and hope because the Lord is risen.  We too may have both joy and fear, but know we also have the encouragement from the Lord to go ahead anyway, that his presence is with us, and that it is enough.   

Clear Agreement

Gospel: John 20: 1-9

The four Gospels disagree on a number of items and details in the life, death, and post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus.  However, in terms of the Resurrection itself, there are a number of points of agreement:  the tomb of Jesus was empty; Mary Magdalene and other women kept vigil at the tomb and were the first to see the risen Jesus; the women were the first to announce this Good News to others; the men-folk did not believe them.  All four Gospels agree on these points.  

We began the Gospel stories of Jesus' birth with women who had incredible stories to tell, and men who did not believe them.  Without the women we would not have these stories of Jesus' birth.  We now end the Gospels with women with an incredible story to tell, and men who did not believe them.  Without them we would not have the accounts of the resurrection of Jesus.  All we would have of the Gospels are a bunch of men who continually get it wrong in belief and in following Jesus.  

For those churches who continue to exclude women from ministry in the church these stories stand as an indictment to persistent toxic masculinity that somehow becomes "the tradition" to which they insist we must adhere.  The Resurrection of Jesus is our continual hope and witness against this false tradition, that the ministry of the risen Jesus is a ministry for all in bringing hope and healing, faith and liberation, love and nourishment to a world in need of these things. 

The Silent God

Holy Saturday

There are no readings, no Mass today, no activity.  The tomb is sealed and all is silent.  It is the most uncomfortable day of the Church year.  We do not know what to do with ourselves.  We do not know how to handle the silence and inactivity of the day.  Today is the day of the silent God, the one we pretend does not exist but in reality is the one we encounter day in and day out in our lives.  It is the God who does not speak, the God who just is and is present to us.

We often hear from people how God has spoken to them, but this is mostly projection in an attempt to justify what we would believe and do anyway.  The silent God is much more challenging to us.  The presence makes us uncomfortable.  We demand that God speak to us, but God does not.  God just remains present to us, and the entire path of spirituality lies in coming to realize that the presence of God is enough for us, that this presence fills us entirely and that we need nothing else from God but that presence.

How often do we just need others to be present to us, to listen to us without saying or doing anything?  We often do not get that from most people, as they will insist on saying and doing something, very often not helping at all in the process.  We have such a presence accessible to us at all times, the God of presence we encounter in silence.  Today is the day to encounter this God, to become comfortable with this God, for this is the only God we have, and it is enough.