"The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon." That's the message the wandering Cleopas and his friend received when they found their way back to the community of disciples. And then they responded that, when they were on the road out of town, they had recognized the risen Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Each year the Church reminds us of these stories of the resurrection. We hear again about the holy women on their way to the tomb early in the morning, worrying about who would roll away the stone from the mouth of the tomb. We see Mary Magdalene weeping in the garden, unable to recognize Jesus, until he lovingly speaks her name. Ignatius Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises would have us contemplate Our Lady on that first Easter morning greeting her risen Son. We've heard the stories so often, year after year, and for some of us that's a long time! While we can understand that it must have been a relief and a joy for Jesus' friends after witnessing his terrible execution, it's hard for us to experience this resurrection as an event that personally affects us in a meaningful way in our lives right here and now. If the resurrection is reduced to assenting to a vague dogma about an empty tomb, back there, back then, that has little connection with our own lives as we live them each day, then, for all practical purposes, what happened, back there, back then, at that empty tomb, doesn't really matter.
The Church challenged us during the Lenten season, through the discipline of prayer and fasting and almsgiving, to free and heal and empty our hearts precisely so we could receive in power at Easter time the Spirit of the risen Jesus. The resurrection is not meant to be a theological notion; it's a call to a living, life-giving relationship. It's clear that, whatever your theories about the resurrection, the lives of those first witnesses were dramatically transformed. Terrified, helpless fishermen fearlessly proclaimed the gospel to the ends of the earth. Where are we most in need of this power? Can we make this gospel story our own? Will we allow the risen Jesus to walk into our lives, where we really live, into our disappointment and fear, our sinfulness and our regret? Will we allow him to warm our cold, hard hearts with scripture's saving grace? When darkness draws near, can we welcome him to stay with us? Will we open our eyes and our hearts to recognize him in the breaking of the bread today? Will we receive the Eucharist from Christ's loving hands as the bread of recognition and reconciliation? Will we allow the Lord to truly rise for us in our lives, in our worlds? Is Christ risen in a refugee camp, or an East Baltimore crack house? Does the risen Jesus come in power to the parents of a critically ill infant or to someone struggling with depression? Can I recognize him in the frustrations and disappointments and misunderstandings of my own life? Mark Link tells the story of the anxious mother who prayed that her two sons would return to the Church. As youngsters they had practiced as Catholics, but, as young men, both had been disillusioned by what they perceived as arrogance, hypocrisy and meanness. While travelling one rainy day out in Montana on a country road the two brothers passed a man, soaked to the bone, limping along the shoulder. They stopped, backed up and offered the man a ride. He explained that he was on his way to Mass, and they offered to take him as far as the Church. Since the rain was coming down so hard and since they had nothing better to do, they decided to stay and drive the stranger home after Mass. After sitting for a while in their truck they went inside the Church to wait. They heard again the old familiar readings and the prayers of the ritual, and, as they explained to their mother, they were both surprised by the feeling that they had come home. The arrogance, hypocrisy and meanness may as a matter of fact still remain in the church, but now they know where they belong. They have come home. That's the moment the resurrection happens for them. Bill Bausch tells of a young boy, who was walking across the town park while eating a Hershey bar. He stopped to watch an elderly woman dozing on a bench in the sun. When she opens her eyes and sees him, she smiles, and he offers her a piece of his chocolate. He continues watching her, then, breaking his Hershey, he hands her half. When he gets home and his mother asks him where he had been, he tells her, "I've been sharing a chocolate bar with Jesus, and she has a beautiful smile." When the woman gets home her daughter asks her where she had been and she answers, "I've been sharing a chocolate bar with Jesus, and I'm surprised at how young he looks." "The Lord has truly been raised and he has appeared to Simon." Will we have the heart to recognize him as he shows himself to us this Easter season? Will we have the trust to let the resurrection happen for us today? Will we let the risen Jesus enter our worlds and our lives? "The Lord has truly been raised and he has appeared to Simon," and to you and to me.
This page was updated March 2008