“Behold, I make everything new”. (Rev 21: 5) Newness often makes us fearful, including the newness which God brings us, the newness which God asks of us. We are like the Apostles in the Gospel: often we would prefer to hold on to our own security, to stand in front of a tomb, to think about someone who has died, someone who ultimately lives on only as a memory, like the great historical figures from the past. We are afraid of God’s surprises! He always surprises us!
Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: he is life! If until now you have kept him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust him, be confident that he is close to you, he is with you and he will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as he would have you do.
The women encounter the newness of God. Jesus has risen, he is alive! But faced with empty tomb and the two men in brilliant clothes, their first reaction is one of fear: “they were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground,” They didn’t even have courage to look. But when they hear the message of the Resurrection, they accept it in faith. Let us invoke the intercession of the Blessed Mother who treasured all these events in her heart and ask the Lord to give us a share in his Resurrection. May he open us to the newness that transforms. May he make us capable of remembering all that he has done in our own lives and in the history of our world. May he help us to feel his presence as the one who is alive and at work in our midst. And may he teach us each day not to look among the dead for the Living One.
Happy Easter!
He is Risen
