Easter Monday
Acts 2:14,22-33 | Psalm 15(16):1-2,5,7-11 | Matthew 28:8-15
And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus. ‘Greetings’ he said. (Matthew 28:9)
Christ is risen! Hallelujah!
So why am I so reluctant to share that joy with others of my own faith?
I just came to that painful realization while remembering the events of the last 24 hours, particularly how few people I greeted with “Blessed Easter!” I must’ve run into at least two hundred people across 3 separate celebrations, yet the only folks I offered felicitations to were those whom I knew personally.
Perhaps some of those “children of the same God” were somewhat off-putting, wearing what Fr. Cornelius hilariously described as “perpetual Good Friday faces”, and radiating a leave-me-alone-I’m-just-fulfilling-an-obligation aura. (One Hospitality Minister described his responsibility as “quite stressful”, and I can understand why.)
But there I was, exiting the main church after 7am mass, greeting a Communion Minister I knew, then walking right past an elderly lady, sitting forlornly in a wheelchair outside the sacristy, to greet another friend. A smile, a clasping of hands, and two simple words “Blessed Easter!” would’ve taken all of five seconds out of my life.
The memory of her lined face, looking around for someone to talk to, will haunt me for a while yet.
That was surely not a passover Jesus would’ve countenanced, and while I may not possess the all-encompassing love of Christ, and while personal interaction actually drains me, those would just be pathetic excuses.
I can do better. I must.
In the meantime…
Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples. (Matthew 28:8)
“Greetings, dear brothers and sisters. Christ is risen! Hallelujah!”
Amen.