Sunday Reflections

Today’s gospel would make a good movie. It starts with a woman approaching a grave while it is still dark. Cue suspenseful music. She finds the stone rolled away! Next, there is a series of action shots of people running. Mary Magdalene running to the apostles, the apostles running to the tomb. Imagine their emotions when they find it empty. Hope that Jesus is alive, despair that his body has been taken away, and confusion: What do we do now?

The scene changes again. Mary is alone and weeping. Many of us have experienced these same feelings after the funeral of a loved one or the loss of some important part of our lives. Grief, despair and a desperate longing for the past.

Mary’s grief is questioned, first by the angel and then by Jesus himself. They ask her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus then proclaims to her the Good News of His Resurrection and Ascension.

Mary immediately is on the move again. She goes to the apostles and proclaims the immense and earth-shattering news. Jesus has overcome death! He lives! He is going to His Father!

We all tend to cling to the security and good times of the past. Maybe we watch old movies or listen to the music of our youth. These offer us temporary comfort when the world is exploding around us, with people dying of war and famine, of poverty and addiction. Many of us live with family or health challenges that threaten to overwhelm us.

Paul tells us to look up, and seek the things that are above. Mary, too, learns to raise her eyes and see that the one she is looking for is right in front of her.

The Good News of the Resurrection should inform our lives every day. Imagine what it would be like if we awoke each morning saying, “To whom can I bring the Good News today? How can I be Good News to others?”

Let us hurry, like Mary Magdalene, to share the joy of the resurrection, to BE the Good News!