“They both ran.” These are the words used in the Gospel of John to describe what Peter and the beloved disciple did when they first heard that the stone was rolled back from the Lord’s tomb and that his body was no longer there. Yes, anyone would go hastily to a tomb where a loved one had been buried that was suddenly found empty. Anyone would want to satisfy their curiosity. But they both ran! These disciples who had spent so much time with Jesus, who had heard him speak so mysteriously about his resurrection so many times, must have known in their hearts that this was much more than the work of a grave robber. They did not see, but they believed. Later they encountered the risen Lord, and then they could not stop themselves from running to the ends of the earth to proclaim the Good News.
We, too, go Sunday after Sunday, day after day, to participate in the same joyous event that we celebrate at Easter, to encounter the risen Lord, truly present in the Eucharist. His risen body in the form of bread, his blood in the form of wine, are given as a marvelous gift to the people he came to redeem, his beloved disciples whom he sends out today with the Good News. People who attend Sunday Mass regularly may not always be fully conscious about Whom it is they encounter there. They may not be able to articulate that it is indeed the risen Lord who is the living bread come down from heaven. Yet in their heart of hearts, they know and they believe, and they return week after week to be filled with the joy of the encounter.
Even our sisters and brothers who only join us for Mass on Christmas and Easter seem to have an innate sense that this encounter with the Lord Jesus is so special that they would hardly think of letting these high holy days pass without being present. They may not be able to say why they come, but they come, and we are happy to welcome them and hope they join us every Sunday for this marvelous encounter with Jesus that can happen nowhere else.
Indeed if we fully realized that we are given the privilege of physically encountering the same Jesus who appeared to Mary Magdalene outside the tomb, the same Jesus who breathed the gift of the Holy Spirit on his disciples the night of his resurrection, we, too, would run to meet him, so great would be our joy.
May we all run to meet the risen Lord. May we then run to tell the Good News to our families and friends, our neighbors and co-workers. May we run to transform our community, our nation, and all the world with the Good News that Death has died and Life lives forever!
May all of you be blessed by this wonder of God’s love! Happy Easter!