“For they did not understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”

We arise on this Easter Sunday, perhaps feeling a bit tired from many days of intense worship and prayer. Maybe, like the disciples, we wonder, what has happened? I imagine that Mary, Simon Peter, and the other disciples were exhausted after all they’d seen and felt in the days before, so, their incomprehension is perfectly understandable. Mary found the stone removed, the cloths rolled up, the tomb empty and Jesus nowhere in sight. She needed help, so she ran and got the others. Together they took in the scene. It was still dark, and they stood there wondering, what could have happened to the Lord’s body? Although they had experienced so much with Jesus—his friendship, teaching, miracles, persecution, and death, they were not fully prepared for his absence. Their faith had been shaken and they did not yet understand what these signs meant. They could not perceive that even as they were seeking the Lord’s body, Jesus was forming them into a new community, a new body.  He was preparing them for a new presence.

Like the disciples, we have been on an intense journey with one another and with Jesus during Lent. Through the liturgy and scripture, we came to know Jesus so intimately—we were fed and washed by him on Holy Thursday, we kissed his cross on Good Friday and we were baptized into new life in faith through water and fire at the Easter Vigil. We arise today renewed in a faith that proclaims that our Lord is indeed risen. He is here with us, Alleluia! We rejoice today knowing his presence in one another and in the sacraments that he left us. Like the disciples, we have been formed to be his Body, the Church.

As we rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection, may we be a body of hope for anyone we encounter today in need of the love and joy of new life in Christ.