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.”
While they were going, some of the guard went into the city
and told the chief priests all that had happened.
The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel;
then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
telling them, “You are to say,
‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’
And if this gets to the ears of the governor,
we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.
And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day. (Mt 28:8-15)
We continue our celebration of Easter today in this, the Octave of Easter.
As we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, we are mindful of the fact that His resurrection was not welcomed by all.
As a matter of fact, His resurrection caused a considerable amount of grief for those who were against Him, indeed, for those who crucified Him.
When they heard that Jesus was alive, they concocted a conspiracy to claim that Jesus’ disciples stole His body so that they could perpetrate the hoax of a resurrection.
There are many people who hold to that theory yet to this day.
The resurrection of Jesus is not welcome to those who live steeped in sin. To them, the resurrection of Jesus is quite troublesome. They do not want anyone to believe in the Lord. They do all that they can to turn people away from Jesus.
We, on the other hand, do all that we can to reinforce our belief not only in the Lord but in His resurrection. That is why we celebrate it for one week.
FAITH ACTION: Spend some time in quiet reflection today centered on the hope of resurrection won for you by Christ Jesus, our Lord.