He is risen! Alleluia!

             For the women in today’s Gospel, nothing is as they anticipated. They expected to need help opening the tomb, but found it open. They expected to find Jesus’ body, but it was gone. They expected to be alone, as they gave their final loving care to their Lord, but found a man dressed in white. They thought the story of Jesus had come to an end, but heard that, not only was Jesus raised, they would see him again in Galilee. They thought their mission was the preparation of a dead body, but were given the responsibility for spreading the good news of the resurrection to the disciples and Peter.

                It’s a lot to take in!
             Did the women believe the young man’s report? The story doesn’t say, so we can only guess. We only know what they did. The last sentence of the Gospel, just one verse later explains, “They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” This, according to the scholars, was the original ending of Mark’s Gospel, the remaining verses having been added later.
             
​               It’s a genuinely startling way to end a Gospel, with the greatest news ever, that Jesus had been raised from the dead, followed by the women’s fear and silence. I would like to suggest that the author did this to make us process our own reaction to the resurrection. If you’re puzzled, and maybe even uncomfortable with the way the women responded, saying nothing, how do you feel about your own reaction to the resurrection? Are you amazed? Do you doubt?
          
              If you doubt the universal witness of all four Gospels to the resurrection, what do you believe? That God and Jesus couldn’t do this? — that’s not likely. Or that God wouldn’t do this, perhaps because it hasn’t been done for any other figure in human history? God broke a lot of steady patterns, though, in the life and ministry of Jesus.

              If you believe, are you dedicating yourself to the Risen Lord, or to other pursuits? Are you proclaiming this extraordinary news to a world that needs the Good News of Jesus’ triumph over darkness, over oppressive high priests, over tombs and death itself? Or, are you, silent, too?

            Mark’s author seems to hope we’ll ponder these questions, be disturbed by the women’s silence, and act. So ... what shall you do? 

I hope that your Lent was terrific, your holy week genuinely blessed, and that Easter can build on that foundation with miracles!




​He is risen! Alleluia,



Fr. Patrick
Pastor 

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