Jesus Met Them on Their Way
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce the news to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." Matthew 28:8-10
Piety
Study
Evening came. Morning Followed. The Fourth Day. Thank you, Book of Genesis, for making Cursillo the first spiritual program proclaimed in the Easter Vigil. It is right there in reading one of the Vigil Mass.
Easter is like the Fourth Day. The Fourth Day is Easter. It never ends. If Easter is the day we go up to the mountaintop, today is the day we carry Easter in our heart for the rest of the year.
That is why it is important to avoid getting “too secular” on Easter. It is not a day to parade on the boardwalk in your Easter bonnet with all the frills upon it. It is not the ONLY day of the liturgical year to attend Church – although the available seats at our parish might challenge that fact. It is not a day to spend with Hollywood’s versions of Judah Ben-Hur, Jesus of Nazareth and the new live version of Jesus Christ Superstar.
You see, Easter is NOT a day. Easter is a people. When the sun came up Monday morning, Easter was not over. Easter is a season. We celebrate Easter every day of the year (except Holy Saturday until sundown) because we are an Easter People, a priestly people, a greasy people (well, at the very least we are a people anointed with lots of oils).
We add lots of trills and flourishes from the Vigil Mass through Mass During the Day. A brass section augmented the choir. A tympani drum set brings our hope to a crescendo. The barren purple of Lent fades into a church adorned with dozens of Lilies, white banners proclaiming Alleluia and Rejoice, and the requisite parking lot attendants to help us get to and fro. The clicking wooden clappers of Holy Thursday were put back into storage and the bells pealed again. Maybe if we did all that more often, people would not wait 364 days to come back.
Action
Today, we are reminded that our search for Jesus is mirrored in the search Mary Magdalene and the other Mary embarked upon. What happened? Jesus met them on their way. Just like the Father in the story of the Prodigal Son, while the son was a long way off, the elderly father sprinted down the dirt road to great him.
Where will Jesus meet you this year? Where are you headed? Chances are, he will be there before you arrive. Do not be afraid. Go tell your sisters and brothers. Are you running toward the womb of being reborn from above? Are you running toward the tomb? Or are you running to go tell it on the mountain?
You never know where your steps will lead you. Today, Your Daily Tripod turns 12 years old. (Technically, we started this as an e-mail to a small team for the Men’s 113th Cursillo in March 2006 but did not appear in the blogosphere until April 2.)
Next year, teenage angst, acne, and middle school await. For now, though, it is all Thanksgiving. Thanks to all the full-time and part-time writers and editors. Thanks to everyone out there selling subscriptions for us. (Are you paid up in full?). But most of all, thanks to our readers everywhere. The US of A. Italy. South Korea. Canada. Mexico. Russian. China. France. Spain. Germany. The Philippines. Thanks to Jesus and the Holy Spirit for meeting me along my way.
4,325 reflections. 246,460 pageviews. That means nearly a quarter of a million times, Jesus met us on the way through Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox or other browsers every single day.
At the end of that first e-mail, I wrote – and it remains true – the following: Grace will come to you in abundance whether you pass this on to anyone else or not. Grace will even come to you if you want me to remove you from future messages sent via e-mails.
Please keep your subscription paid up by picking up your cross daily and following Jesus.
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