Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce the news to his disciples.
The realization of what had happened was finally beginning to take hold. Their sorrow and grief, which once seemed like they would be new and permanent features of reality, began to give way to the joy of the resurrection.
Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy (see John 16:20).
The healing of their hearts was not a one step process. It took angels as well as multiple encounters with the risen Lord himself. Even then, the fragility of the human heart caused the women along with all of the disciples to have their joy muddled and stunted by the presence of lingering fear. This continued to be the case until they were infused at Pentecost with new courage. This courage was given by Jesus himself through the Spirit, the very confidence of Jesus himself in the Father, now proven by the fact of his resurrection, infused into the hearts and minds of believers
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he poured forth the promise of the Holy Spirit
that he received from the Father, as you both see and hear.
In the flames of Pentecost we can experience the same confidence that enabled Jesus himself to be so faithful to his Father. We too can learn to say "with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed". Once we do, once this reality of Jesus becomes our own by the power of the Holy Spirit, our own tongues will exult, and we ourselves will become witnesses.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Jesus himself does not wish to leave us with a halting and partial faith, one step forward in joy, two steps back in fear. He desires to reveal himself more and more fully to us so that we can assist him in the mission of gathering his brothers and sisters in his Church, around his ongoing presence in our midst. Yet if we were asked what is preventing us from doing more to share the Gospel, wouldn't fear often be our answer? Are we not perhaps still among those who have seen the Lord but need more of the power of his Spirit to become the witnesses he intends us to be? It is fair to ask, do we really need this courage? Can't we be content to focus on the low hanging fruit that doesn't push us far from our comfort zones? One reason we should not be content with that is because the world itself is not neutral ground. There are those committed to falsehoods about Jesus himself, just like the chief priests who fabricated a story about the empty tomb and bribed the guards. Without courage such individuals and those under their sway may never be reached. We would not dare to be as direct as Peter was in his homily on Pentecost:
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
Because the truth that needs to be proclaimed is not always easy, but because it is always good, and always leads to life, we need the courage that only comes as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is the power that brings an external and superficial experience of the resurrection home to the heart. It is fair to say that we always need more of this reality. Come Holy Spirit!
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
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