He has died. His mission is finished. Lent is finished for another year. Our Lenten resolves? Are they finished? So, where do we go now? Where can we go? The gospel for Easter Sunday Mass puts an interesting sight before us. Three close friends of the Crucified Christ are drawn to his tomb -- one, Mary Magdalene, surely went to the tomb out of love, out of sadness, a sense of loss The others, Peter and John, rush to the tomb because Mary reported that the sealing stone was removed from the tomb's entrance. Most interesting is an admission by John that his faith was not all that strong. Speaking of himself in the third person, John wrote "and he saw and believed." Believed what? What was already written in the Scriptures: "that he had to rise from the dead."In all honestly, we might question our own belief that Jesus truly was risen -- risen from the death that brought his earthly body to Joseph of Arimethea's tomb. All of the Evangelists reveal an uncertainty of belief in the Resurrection. They seem to find it almost impossible to accept a reality they do not understand. Mar writes: "... they did not believe." Matthew describes a reaction to a post-Resurrection event: "... they doubted." In Luke's account of the Emmaeus
Perhaps these words of uncertainty, these expressions of doubt are necessary for all future generations as a support in moments when our faith in Jesus or his Church are weak These hesitations serve all of us well. If those who were so closely allied with Jesus in his public life and ministry were initially restrained from total belief, then our questions, our temptations to walk away from the Church and Sacraments should not be as frightening as some have experienced in a personal doubting in Jesus' messages to them.
As the story of Jesus' rising and the accounts of his post-Resurrection "visits" to the disciples circulate among the people, the wall of doubt began to crumble. St. Paul, some years after the Resurrection would testify "Last of all ... he appeared to me."
Today, this modern-times Resurrection day, stands as a reminder to us that the call to be a faithful follower of Jesus is first and foremost a challenge to our hearts. Our "Alleluia" and words of resurrection must be real, must be strong. Do I genuinely believe he has risen from death. Do I believe with all that is in me that this event seals my own salvation? If you have this kind of believe then you can believe God loves you as you are. Archbishop Desmond Tutu's words speak to us now: "God loves us not because we are lovable. No, we are lovable precisely because God loves us."
Maintain a special, prayerful relationship to the Resurrection is for you a personal moment not simply an historical fact. It is for you an awareness that you truly believe in the mystery of the Resurrection and its promise that Jesus' life has brought you to be the recipient of the Father's prodigal love. story he recounts the Risen Jesus' words to the two travelers: "How slow of heart to believe...."
