There are times when we allow ourselves to become almost numb to the continual miracles of life, death, and resurrection that constantly surround us in our day-to-day living. The multitudes of distractions in our fast-paced world can rob us of what nature also can teach us. We are just leaving the barren season of winter but we can see new life if we take the time to look at the first, slight traces of pink emanating from the trees. Very soon the buds of flowers will burst open and the beauty of nature will fill us with awe and wonder. It is the season of resurrection. God constantly speaks to us in our world that pain, death and life is renewed once again.
This lesson was also demonstrated to the Apostles when they experienced the agony of the loss of Jesus through his passion and death. Although they had listened to and followed him for three years, they still had not fully understood his message. They allowed their faith in Jesus to dissolve into utter panic and fear. The depression that followed must have been overpowering. So, Mary Magdalen's message on Easter morning to John and Peter likely added to their anxiety as they beheld the empty tomb.
Can you imagine on that same eve how they must have felt when Jesus came to them and they once again heard that familiar voice, looked again into those loving eyes and saw his healed wounds. Think of Peter, John and the others surrounding him, wanting to jump up and down at the sight of him not as a ghost but as a real live person. They were the first witnesses to the resurrection along with Mary Magdalen. They would have many more encounters such as this as recorded in Scripture. For example, when Jesus told them to lower their nets at the seashore, or when he invited them to a breakfast on the beach, or when Peter was told by Jesus to ‘feed my sheep,’ and when they were commissioned to go and preach the good news to every creature. The transformation that eventually changed these men from cowards to men who laid down their lives under the most atrocious conditions speaks to us of the power of the Resurrection.
We too need to renew our faith in the Resurrection and what it means for us in this twenty first century. Yes, death and Resurrection still surround us today but we have people all around us whose lives and actions speak to us of renewed life. Not only do we have nature with all its glory shouting at us but we also have people who continue to pour out their lives for one another.
Take the example of Mr. Alex Pretti, a dedicated nurse who tried to protect a woman on the streets of Minneapolis and was shot dead, or the Bronx father's only son who was indiscriminately shot on a city street which left a father totally devastated but who forgave the shooter within days, or Doctors without Borders who risk their lives to help heal children with diseases in war-torn Africa. Although we may not be able to reach the farthest corners of the earth, each of us has the ability to reach out and become a symbol of resurrection. When we listen to a person in pain or accept all people regardless of their status in life or ethnic background or give from our means to people who have far less than ourselves or respond to others in difficult situations with compassion and pray for one another. In all these many ways, we prove that Jesus is still very much alive and walking with us hand in hand.
– Sister Helen R. Boyd, OP
Sister Helen resides in Dominican Convent where she serves on the Life Enrichment Committee and co-chairs the Mission Outreach Committee.