When we are sick, we run to the doctor’s. When there is a big sale at a store, we run to the shopping mall. When we see a little toddler fall down, we run to comfort him and pick him up. Today’s Gospel tells us that Peter and John ran as well. They ran to the tomb on Easter Sunday, once Mary Magdalene told them that Jesus’ body was missing.
It seems that a lot of people ran to find Jesus. There was a Roman centurion, a demon-possessed man, and a woman with a blood disorder. There was a fellow with leprosy, a woman known as a sinner, and the tax collector Zacchaeus. The mother of a possessed child, a wealthy young man, and blind Bartimaeus also ran to him. And let’s not forget all the people who crowded around Jesus at every town he visited.
Jesus once said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14). He also said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (11:28). And “I will not reject anyone who comes to me” (John 6:37). It’s an open invitation. There are no conditions, no strings attached. Jesus wants everyone to come to him, just as they are.
Today, as you celebrate the most important event in human history, accept Jesus’ invitation. Run to him. Don’t hold back because you think you’re not worthy. Run to receive his overflowing mercy. Run to receive him as the Living Bread at Mass.
When Peter and John ran to the tomb, their hearts were filled with hope. On this Easter Sunday, let’s also place our hope in the One who “is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). When we run to Jesus, we will find him. He has risen. He is alive. He wants to help us just as much as he helped all those people who ran to him.
“Lord, I believe that you have risen. Thank you for calling me to your side!”
It has been a long-standing tradition to observe a kind of sacred silence between the hours of noon and three o’clock on Good Friday—the hours when darkness fell over Jesus as he hung on the cross. We join the spectators who were there on Calvary in a silence of sadness at the sight of Jesus suffering so deeply. We also join the silence of the “many nations” and “kings” in the first reading who are “startled” and left “speechless” (Isaiah 52:15). Like them, we are shocked at the cruelty that was visited upon this innocent man.
For the spectators on Calvary and the dignitaries in the first reading, the silence is dramatic enough. But for us there is another layer to this silence. Ours is the silence of a people who see their own sins in the sufferings of Christ. In the cruelty of his tormentors, we see a reflection of the way we can sometimes treat each other—maybe not as extreme, but still with a passion that we know is wrong. Every lash of the whip chills us. Every desperate gasp for air pierces us. We are left wordless with sadness over our sins and awe at his mercy.
But there’s someone else who is keeping a sacred silence today. In the first reading, it’s the servant himself. Isaiah describes him as “a sheep before the shearers” who “opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). No words of protest, denunciation, or complaint. He was innocent, but he submitted to his tormentors with a humility that we can only begin to comprehend.
Like this tormented servant, Jesus also maintained a humble, prayerful silence throughout his passion. His entire life up to that point had been one long march toward Calvary. Everything he said or did led up to this act of pure and selfless love. He had said all he needed to say; all that was left now were the “seven last words” that still ring in our ears.
Today, try to enter into this sacred silence. Gaze at the crucifix, and see the love that brought Jesus there. Imagine his silent testimony as he stood before his accusers. Let his silence wash over you and fill you with wonder, gratitude, and love. Remember, Jesus did all this for you.
“Jesus, let your love reduce me to silence today.”
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. (John 20:1-9)
The gospel reading from John may seem odd, because we hear only part of the story of the resurrection. Neither Mary Magdalene or the disciples encounter the risen Lord. Yet such a reading can bring their experience closer to ours. During the course of this Passover weekend, the disciples’ faith was stretched greatly. Until they encountered the risen Christ, they could only hope and trust in his promise that he would rise.
Similarly, we ourselves have not encountered the risen Christ in the flesh. So this is a time of faith for us as well. Yet, unlike these first disciples, we do not have to wait with anxiety and fear. We have the Holy Spirit living in us to give us confidence that the resurrection is real. Our faith in Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, comes from the Spirit. It is he who convinces us of realities that we will not see until the final day of the Lord.
That’s why Easter is such a day of celebration: The Holy Spirit is making Jesus’ resurrection real to us! He wants to bring us the freedom from sin that Jesus accomplished on the cross. We are no longer slaves to sin. We don’t have to see Jesus with our eyes; we can receive him in our hearts! Even death cannot overcome us!
We have the opportunity today to go beyond an intellectual faith to a faith that is living in our hearts. Christ is risen! He has cleansed us of every sin. We will not die; we will live with him forever! If you have not experienced this indescribable joy, today is the day to start. The Holy Spirit is ready to show you the love and power of God. Today is the day to experience these glorious truths in a way that will cause you to shout aloud: “He is risen!” The words will ring with meaning for you if you ask the Spirit to reveal them to your heart.
Points for Meditation
• In prayer, ask the Lord to show you how the resurrection of his Son can affect you in a tangible way. In what ways can the risen Christ be manifested in you and through you? • Whatever trials or struggles you may be experiencing in your life right now, ask the Holy Spirit to give you a deep sense of joy today, especially as you receive the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist. • Spend some time meditating on these words of St. Anselm: “You were a bond-slave and by this man you are free. By him you are brought back from exile; lost, you are restored; dead, you are raised.”
Prayer
Jesus, what words of praise can I offer you? Death has been swallowed up in your victory. Your divine life is now alive within me. Lord Jesus, I will love and praise you forever!
Look at the contrast. The apostles were arguing with each other at the Last Supper, while Jesus was on his knees washing their feet.
The washing of the feet was not a new practice invented by Jesus. It was commonly practiced whenever a person entered a house after a journey. Typically, family members and their guests would wash their own feet. But wealthy people had slaves to do the washing for them.
That’s what makes Jesus’ gesture so moving. The disciples could have washed their own feet, as they normally would, but Jesus insisted on taking the role of a slave and doing it for them. Let’s not forget, also that these were not the elegant, perfumed, well-tended feet of princes. These feet were probably dirty and smelly. No wonder Peter took offense! Jesus, the man he once called “Holy One of God,” should never have to do such demeaning work (John 6:69)!
But that’s not how Jesus saw it. He wanted the disciples, and us, to see how committed he was to saving us. No sin is so large that it keeps him away. He will do whatever it takes to wash us clean. By washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus demonstrated that he came to serve us and to give up his life for our sake.
There was another reason Jesus washed their feet. He told them, “I have given you a model to follow” (John 13:15). He wants all of us to imitate him—especially in the area of offering love, forgiveness, and service. Just as there is no sin too large to be forgiven, there is no task too menial for us to do—especially if it’s in the service of someone in need. If Jesus is willing to humble himself and serve us in such a lowly task, we should do what we can for everyone around us. We should be willing to perform even the most unpleasant tasks for the glory of Jesus and the healing of his people.
Today we recall the Last Supper, when Jesus first gave us his Body and Blood. May we be just as willing to offer our lives to the people around us.
“Lord, I want to do for the people around me as you have done for me.”
If you’ve ever been betrayed, you know how painful it is. You placed your love and trust in someone very close to you. Now that person has irreparably damaged your relationship. How could they have done such a thing?
Jesus too experienced the pain of betrayal. Scripture tells us that as he thought about what Judas was about to do, Jesus became “deeply troubled” (John 13:21). Judas had stuck with him for so long, through thick and thin, and now, at the very end, he turns on Jesus. No wonder Jesus was upset!
But Jesus was also troubled because he knew that Judas would end up deeply regretting his decision—to the point of taking his own life because his guilt felt so intense.
It didn’t have to end that way. Peter also betrayed Jesus by denying him, and all the disciples fled when Jesus was arrested. But their betrayals didn’t destroy their relationship with Jesus because they embraced his mercy.
Betrayal is so damaging because we instinctively want to protect ourselves from being hurt a second time. But Jesus shows us how powerful forgiveness can be. It can restore even the most damaged relationship.
If you are hurting from a betrayal, you may have no desire to forgive that person. Ask for this grace anyway. Even if you think it’s impossible to forgive or that the relationship can be restored, remember: nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).
Maybe the person who betrayed you is someone from your past whom you will never see again. Maybe it’s someone who has never asked you for forgiveness. Sometimes because of circumstances, it’s not wise to renew the relationship. Even if that’s the case, God doesn’t want you to be weighed down by hurt and resentment. He wants you to forgive that person from the heart so that he can free you.
It’s all too common for people to turn against one another as Judas and Peter turned against Jesus—and for many reasons as well. But we don’t have to live under the shadow of betrayal. Jesus died for our forgiveness so that he could heal even our deepest hurts.
“Jesus, give me the grace to forgive those who have hurt me.”
If Good Friday was the worst day in the disciples’ lives, imagine what the next couple of days must have felt like.
With the trauma of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion still raw in their minds, they also had to begin contemplating a future without this rabbi whom they had followed for so long. Imagine what it must have been like for Mary Magdalene and the other women as they went out to anoint Jesus’ corpse. Think about the others, holed up in the upper room, fearing for their lives and wondering if they could ever go back to their former lives. Imagine the sense of dread and loss that enveloped Cleopas and his companion as they walked toward Emmaus.
But everything changed when Jesus fulfilled his promise to rise from the dead. Mary Magdalene was thrilled when Jesus called her by name. The apostles were overjoyed when Jesus joined them behind locked doors. They still had to deal with the danger and the threats to their lives, but now they could face it all with a new kind of faith—with resurrection faith.
Jesus desires to fill us with resurrection faith. We want to explore the kind of faith that tells us that no matter how difficult our circumstances may be, we can still believe that Jesus is God, that he rose from the dead, and that he is with us every step of the way. Let’s ask Jesus to strengthen our faith as we examine Mary’s encounter with the Risen Lord.
Faith and Love. Jesus had repeatedly said that he would not only die but also rise from the dead on the third day. But despite having heard these promises, Mary arrived at the burial site to anoint a dead body, not to greet a risen Lord. When she saw the empty tomb, Mary had the opportunity to remember Jesus’ words and believe. But she didn’t. Instead, she ran back to the others and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him” (John 20:2).
Mary could have said, “I believe.” She could have said, “Maybe Jesus really has risen.” But as far as she was concerned, Jesus was still dead. The empty tomb was the only evidence she considered—not Jesus’ promises or the hundreds of miracles he had performed. The empty tomb, the rolled-away stone, her years of seeing Jesus do the impossible—all of these could have been enough to prompt her to believe. But she just couldn’t get there.
But while Mary’s faith may have been shaken, her love for Jesus remained. Look at her tears, her heartbreak at Jesus’ death, and her persistence in seeking him out. These are not the actions of an indifferent person. Mary may not have understood Jesus’ promises perfectly, but she never abandoned him! In fact, we can go so far as to say that Mary’s love carried her faith. It supported her. It gave her the strength to keep seeking him out and not give up on him.
This is one of the most important messages Mary’s story contains for us. As it did for Mary, so can our love for Jesus carry us through those times when our faith is challenged. No matter what questions may surface in our minds, we can always fall back on the ways we have sensed Jesus’ love in the past—and the way that love has melted our hearts.
I Am Always with You. Most of us can understand how broken-hearted Mary must have felt. We have all had times when some tragedy or hardship has knocked us off our foundation of faith: a divorce, a serious illness, the loss of a job, a child leaving the Church. Situations like these can cause us to resent God, to wonder why he would put us through such trials, or even to ask if there is a God at all.
Despite how difficult these situations may be, Jesus asks for a response that is kneaded with faith. He wants us to consider not only the evidence right before our eyes—the evidence that may move us to lose faith—but also the “invisible” evidence of his love, his promises, and his grace. Especially in our most challenging situations, Jesus asks us to trust him. He asks us to trust in his love for our family. He asks us to trust that he has a plan for our lives—even if all we can see right now is the trial right before us. He asks us to believe that he is with us—even if we feel all alone.
If, like Mary, we try to deal with the challenges of life on their terms alone, we will likely find our faith being dragged down. We will know only doubt and anger and fear. We will end up at the mercy of the situation before us, with no confidence that we can move through it peacefully.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Just before he ascended to heaven, Jesus said, “I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Was Jesus giving his followers a promise they could always rely on? Or was he just saying something nice to comfort them? Is this promise an empty saying, or is it something that we can believe in even when all the evidence seems to tell us we are alone? Jesus wants us to use promises like these to help us through even the most difficult and demanding challenges of life.
Cling to the Risen Lord. When Jesus called Mary by name, she was so excited that she rushed to embrace him. But Jesus cautioned her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (John 20:17). Mary was trying to embrace Jesus as her friend, as her beloved rabbi from Nazareth, who had healed her and loved her unconditionally. But the time had come for Mary to cling to him not only as her friend but also as the risen Lord of all creation. Mary’s faith was based on a Jesus she could see and touch and hear, but now it had to move to a Jesus who would speak to her inwardly, through his Holy Spirit.
Jesus wasn’t rejecting Mary. He was trying to raise her faith to a new level. He wanted her to know that even though he was leaving, he would still be with her. He would be in her heart, speaking words of love and wisdom and guidance to her. He would be with her through her brothers and sisters. He would be with her through the Eucharist. But now her faith had to be based on a Jesus whom she believed in but couldn’t see—a Jesus whom she loved as always, but whom she would now experience through trust, belief, and hope. It was time for Mary to start walking by faith, not by sight.
Mary’s calling is our calling as well. And how comforting to know that even she had to learn this new way of faith! How comforting to know that Mary Magdalene, Peter, and all the apostles are walking with us as we learn how to live by faith and not by sight. And even more comforting is the knowledge that Jesus Christ, the Lord of all creation, is ready to pour his grace on all people everywhere—including us! He isn’t just a wise rabbi from the first century. He is the eternal God. Nothing can limit him. Nothing can keep him from us.
So let’s all cling to Jesus as the risen Lord. Let’s believe in him and trust him and love him as the Eternal One who will never fail in his promises. He is always near to those who seek him—near to them through faith and through the unseen presence of the Holy Spirit.
Mary’s Advice. On Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene received resurrection faith. If she were here, she might urge us to hold on to our love for Jesus even if we feel we have lost our faith. She might also tell us how vital it is that we try our best to recall the Lord’s promises each day. So let’s take Mary’s advice. Let’s turn to Jesus in prayer right now and tell him that we want to trust in him, no matter what comes our way.
Imagine hosting a dinner party to say “Thank you” to a fireman who helped save your life. You welcome him into your home and ask what you can get him to drink; you want to do everything you can to show your gratitude. Later on, when there’s a pause in the conversation, you try to express how much it means to have him there—the man who gave your life back to you. But you can’t say enough. Words fall short.
We all respond differently in moments of deep emotion or gratitude. Some people fall silent, while others laugh or even break out into song. Look at Lazarus and his sisters as an example. Each of them responded to Jesus—the person who raised Lazarus from the dead—in different yet equally moving ways. Lazarus hosted Jesus and his disciples. Martha kept the food and drink flowing. And Mary anointed him with costly perfume.
Just like Lazarus, you have received life because of Jesus. He’s the hero who has eternally saved you from sin—along with everyone else who has faith in him. He is the One who saw you in distress, entered into your world, and rescued you from everything that was threatening you. And like the firefighter, he risked his own life so that you could have another chance at life.
This is also the One who comes to dine with you at the Eucharistic banquet. Day after day, week after week, he accepts your invitation and comes to share a meal with you. It doesn’t matter to him whether your celebration is grand or humble, filled with guests or a more intimate affair. Just as he was happy to rescue you, he is happy to spend time with you.
This week try to carve out time to attend at least one of the Holy Week services: the Washing of the Feet on Holy Thursday or the Stations of the Cross or the Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday. Or spend some time in quiet adoration before the tabernacle. This is your opportunity to tell Jesus how grateful you are and how much he means to you. If you are making your offering in love and gratitude—no matter what that offering is—it will be a precious anointing for Jesus.
One of the best ways to read the story of Jesus’ passion is to put ourselves in his shoes. First, Jesus watched one of his own apostles betray him with a kiss. Have you ever had someone smile at you on the surface but then do something to intentionally hurt you? If so, you have had a taste of the passion. Have you ever had your best friends abandon you in a dark time? If so, you have had a taste of the passion. If you ever had people make up lies and false accusations about you in an effort to destroy your reputation, then you have had a taste of the passion. If you have ever been the brunt of terrible jokes and pranks that hurt, then you have had a taste of the passion.
Was any of this fun? No. Did it hurt you deeply? Probably. Did you get angry, feel humiliated, harbor resentment? Likely. Did you want to get even? Maybe.
At the passion, if Jesus fell prey to one split second of resentment or one moment of anger, he would not have been able to save us. Everything would have been lost. But he didn’t. Throughout this ordeal, as unjust as it was, Jesus acted like a lamb led to slaughter. He didn’t defend himself. He didn’t fight back. Instead, all Jesus did was say, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34).
All of us will face false accusation or abuse or betrayal at some point in our lives. It’s likely that most of us already have. As we hear the passion today, let’s resolve to be as merciful as we can to everyone who has hurt us, ridiculed us, betrayed us, or tarnished our reputations. Let’s also agree never again to undermine someone or hurt someone.
Reflecting on Jesus’ passion naturally creates a moment of sorrow in us. It saddens us to see Jesus suffer and be mistreated so much. But it can also help us. We can look at the cross and ask God to help us be more forgiving—just as Jesus was.
“Lord, help me to be like you.”
Luke 19:28-40 Isaiah 50:4-7 Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24 Philippians 2:6-11
