REFLECTION

Gospel

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.

They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.

When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.                                                                                  John 20: 1-9 

Reflection 

Alleluia! He is Risen! Jesus died for our sins so that we might be saved.

For most of us, the joy in our hearts when leaving services on Easter Sunday is probably equal to the joy we felt when we married or experienced the birth of a child. If ever there were a time to use the word “transcendent,” Easter Sunday is it. And so it is, our Lenten journey is over. Our 40 days of reflection, penance, purification, and renewal have come to an end. Christ died for our sins, he is risen and we are saved.

But where will we be in the weeks to follow? Will we go back to wandering in our own spiritual deserts, lost in focus and purpose until the next religious holiday? Will it not be until Advent that we again devote as much time to strengthening our faith as we did during Lent? If so, then, quite possibly our 40-day journey was for naught.

Maybe Paul’s admonition in 1st Corinthians can help guide us in the weeks and months to come.

Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened.For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

In Israel, once Passover concluded, there was a weeklong Feast of Unleavened Bread, where all physical leaven was removed from homes, as leaven was historically associated with sin. Maybe following Easter, we would be wise to model this Jewish tradition.

Instead of searching for the leaven in our homes, let us continue to examine our relationship with Christ even more deeply, to look for the “the old yeast” that remains in our hearts, the smallest amount of which can pull us away from the people God wants us to be.

Maybe the “old yeast” is the anger we hold because of what someone said to or about us. Remove it, for it is the yeast of malice and wickedness.

Maybe the “old yeast” is the discouragement we feel regarding the unsettling political and social issues of our times. Remove it, for it is the yeast of malice and wickedness.

Maybe the “old yeast” is the resentment we have, because we feel our spouse does not love us as much as we love them. Remove it, for it is the yeast of malice and wickedness.

The lesson we should have learned from Lent is that we need to take the time each day to diligently search our hearts and look for the smallest bits of “old yeast”– yeast that continues to rise up in us as “malice and wickedness” – and purge it from our hearts.

So, let’s not let our faith and spiritual journey take a pause just because Easter is over. Rather, let us try to become a “fresh batch of dough” and continue our sharpened Lenten focus on our personal relationship with Christ and how we are living our lives so we might become the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

May the glory and the promise of this joyous time of year bring peace and happiness to you and those you hold most dear. And may Christ, Our Risen Saviour, always be there by your side to bless you most abundantly and be your loving guide.— Author Unknown.

Julie Leonard Religious Education Leader/Wellbeing Leader