April 26, 2011
Tuesday in the Octave of Easter
By Beth DeCristofaro
Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:16-17)
Piety
Lord God, the earth is full of your goodness. May I see your presence within myself and within others. May I be Christ serving Christ to them. May I be Christ served by Christ through them.
Study
Easter Vigil Mass is one of my favorite liturgies. Each year, the darkness descends and we hear the stories of our sacred history. We contemplate an inconceivable creation in which I and my fellow congregants were formed in God’s image. I “remember” in my own life and the inheritance of my forbearers our propensity to choose other than God and thus choose exile. I imagine the confusion and relief at God’s saving actions which called my spiritual ancestors to God again and again, renewing my hope for myself and my world. And I can’t help but be moved to tears as the lights come up and we sing the Gloria in recognition of the blazing light of Christ’s salvific life, death and resurrection.
Today we read again the story of the empty tomb and the urging of the risen Lord to Mary, a mere woman, to spread the Word that he lives! As the priest during his homily at the Vigil reminded us, “What happens at St. Mary’s doesn’t stay at St. Mary’s!” We are all enjoined to share the Good News. In my recent study I have been reading Madeleine Delbrel, activist, mystic, laywoman who experienced a conversion from atheism to Catholism. She asserts that for the ordinary lay person in the world the means to leave one’s own will behind and follow God is found in being immersed in the solitude of God where we are and what we do each ordinary day.
“We, the ordinary people of the streets, do not see solitude as the absence of the world but as the presence of God. Encountering him in all places is what creates our solitude…In the street, crushed by the crowd, we make our souls into so many caves of silence wherein the Word of God can dwell and resound…The solitude of God in fraternal charity; it is Christ serving Christ, Christ in the one who is serving and Christ in the one being served… (Our obedience in the world stems from God’s gift of:) the daily routine, one chore that leads to another, some job we wouldn't have chosen. It's the weather and its changes - which is exquisite precisely because it is completely untainted by human doing. It's being cold, or being hot; it's the headache or the toothache. It's the people we meet and the conversations they choose to start. It's the rude man who nearly knocks us off the sidewalk. It's the people who need to kill some time, and so they corner us. …For us, the ordinary people of the streets, obedience means bending to the ways of our times whenever they are not harmful... It is the doorbell ringing? Quick, open the door! It’s God coming to love us. Is someone asking us to do something? Here you are!...It’s God coming to love us. Is it time to sit down for lunch? Let’s go – it’s God coming to love us. Let’s let him. “
Action
Neither Mary nor the other disciples recognized Jesus after the resurrection until he revealed himself. God gives me so many opportunities to see Him, revealing to me Divine presence if I open space and awareness within myself to recognize Him. Who have I not recognized as Jesus on the street because I avoid meeting her/him? Do I let my own likes and dislikes, my political leanings, my own needs, my short sightedness, my prejudices and assumptions conceal the presence of Jesus right in front of me? Do I deliberately refuse to see Jesus in some people?
Through God’s grace and prayer, study and being open to God’s will over my own preferences. I can reunite myself with Jesus each day and thus move forward with him out of my own darkness into the light of recognition and joy. Let’s let Christ love us!
