Church of the
Annunciation

7580 Clinton Street
Elma, New York 14059

716.683.5254

April 09, 2023

Easter Sunday

Children love to run. They run when they play. Just watch our PreK children in the gym. During Mass, I watch children run in the vestibule of the church. They run when they see someone whom they love. Running for children is a natural release and expression of joyful energy. On Easter morning, the Gospel is filled with running. Mary of Magdala runs to the disciples. Peter and the Beloved Disciple run to the empty tomb. The emotions underpinning their running are mixed -- disbelief, confusion, fear, and the longing of their hearts for the missing one.  

On the first day of the week, Mary comes to the tomb where the body of Jesus has been placed. It is very early and still dark. The stone has been moved. Thinking the worst, Mary runs to tell Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” Simon Peter and the Beloved Disciple run back to the tomb. We can meditate on the text and visualize the two running. John is younger and runs ahead. Peter is older and falls behind. John’s hands are folded together as if in prayer. Peter’s right hand is over his heart. Perhaps catching his breath. Both disciples are looking keenly at the horizon, at the morning sun.

St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans 4:18 coins an expression we use today, “Hoping against all hope.” It aptly describes Mary of Magdala, Simon Peter and John searching for Jesus. Ultimately, it is not the empty tomb, of and by itself, that brings them to faith in the resurrection, it is the appearance of the Risen Lord. In the Gospel of John, seeing is believing. Jesus appears when they stop running. When Mary returns to the tomb for a second look, overcome with tears, she peers in and is startled by two angels in white robes. They ask, “why are you crying.” Mary turns and sees Jesus, but she does not recognize him at first glance. Mary supposes that Jesus is the gardener. Only when the Risen Lord calls her by name does she recognize his voice. Jesus commissions her to tell the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.”

Simon Peter and John, after trying to decipher the meaning of the empty tomb and burial cloths lying there, return to their lodging, to the other disciples, and they lock the door. They are still frightened and ashamed of their conduct when Jesus was arrested. Jesus, the Risen Lord, appears to them and imparts the Easter greeting and gift, “Peace be with you.” Before Mary of Magdala, Simon Peter and John encounter Jesus, the Risen Lord, whom they are running to and seeking, they must first acknowledge what they are running from or holding on to – regrets of the past, worries about the future or troubles of the present.  

Although we are removed from the empty tomb by space and time, we profess our faith in the resurrection. “Blessed are they who have not seen and believe.” We have the testimony of Sacred Scripture, the living witness and tradition of the faith community, the Church, and the intuitive sense of the presence of the Risen Lord at Mass. Last evening, during the Easter Vigil, Dixie Andrews received the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion. Today, Easter Sunday, a baby girl will be baptized during the 11 AM Mass. Indeed this is the day to run for joy like little children. “Unless we become like little children we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” With the psalmist we sing, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.”

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2nd Sunday of Easter

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