Monday in the Octave of Easter Mt 28,8-15

Christmas is a time of joy! This manifests itself mainly in the church and in various ways. Very joyful Easter songs are sung here, e.g., “Rejoice or “Rejoice, queen of heaven” and others; the liturgical color is white, the color of joy, and the word hallelujah is often sung or recited, which means glory. The pleasure is also emphasized by the flower decoration in the church when the church was without flower decoration during Lent. We all know the reason for this joy: it is the resurrected Jesus Christ. From the very beginning, Christians have realized that Jesus accomplished something magnificent and unique with his resurrection, which should be rejoiced, all the more so because this resurrection does not apply only to Jesus, but he promised it to all who believe and are baptized. With the first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection – women – we read that great joy was mixed with fear, but this should not be surprising because no one expected that this resurrection of Jesus would happen.

The women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ dead body with fragrant ointments. And instead, the tomb was empty. But joy completely replaced fear when Jesus appeared to the women and spoke to them. For us, today’s Christians, it is not only a joy that Jesus rose from the dead, that he conquered death, sin, and the evil spirit, and that he wants to give this resurrection to believers, but we also rejoice that Jesus was able to reward loyalty, bravery and love women who remained on the way of the cross and under the cross close to Jesus, unlike many of the apostles and disciples of the Lord Jesus. Jesus acts in the same way during the church’s history and in the present time. He loves the one who fulfills the will of God and makes no distinction between man and woman, poor or rich, young or old. Jesus is undoubtedly happy with you who came to church on the Way of the Cross, to the Holy Week ceremonies, and to tell the truth, in our parish, it was mainly women or older believers. 

The other part of today’s gospel was less joyful. The chief priests and elders bribed the guards who guarded the tomb but did not keep watch to tell the people that the Lord’s disciples had come at night while the guards slept and stole Jesus’ dead body. Even though the guards, in this case, would have to be punished not only for having someone steal the object of their watch but also because the guards are not supposed to sleep on the watch. Indeed, a dead Jesus could not appear to anyone as alive. The revelation of Jesus is the greatest joy for us, and that revelation for 40 days from the day of the resurrection, but later during the church’s history. Let us recall some women to whom Jesus appeared throughout history: St. Margaret Maria Alaquoque, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Teresa of Avila, St. To Faustina Kowalské and others Nothing will help against these apparitions, not even the money that powerful non-believers give to book publishers or film producers to question the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus does not mean that Jesus is still visibly with us, but that he is in another, that is, God’s existence, which is far from our senses, especially sight, but to whomever Jesus wants to appear, he will give this ability to see him. 

It may be sad that we did not see Jesus, but for all of us, there are comforting words that the Lord Jesus said to Thomas: “Blessed, that is, happy are those who have not seen, but still believed.” This makes our faith even more worthy than those who saw Jesus. And we can and should be happy about that. We can meet Jesus in faith and love because he promised: “I will be with you until the end of the world.” He also said: “Where there are two or three in my name, I am in the midst of them.” This is especially true during religious gatherings. Therefore, let us gladly come to our gatherings to strengthen our joy, like the women at that time of meeting the resurrected Lord Jesus.