Easter Monday 2017 - Fearlessly sharing the good news

“Do not be afraid!” Easier said than done! The women left the tomb, half overjoyed, half fearful. They had come face to face with the angel of the Lord and experienced a violent earthquake. Anyone in their right mind WOULD be afraid. The romans had crucified their Lord, the Jewish leaders couldn’t be trusted, capable of insidious plotting and conspiracy. The only way you wouldn’t be, if you were commanded by God…as they were, and as have we.

“Do not be afraid!” the Lord commands us. His Word strikes down our fears when we trust Him.
This Easter week is all about preaching, preaching the good news of the resurrection, spreading it among non-believers, those who have still not allowed the Gospel to take root in their hearts. We are not to allow fear to keep us from this mission, the divine mandate: to preach, to proclaim, to spread.
The two Mary’s in today’s Gospel are tasked with bringing the good news to the apostles, those who should have known better. Sadness, fear, depression had begun to grow in them, their lives seemed ruined, they were crushed—their leader, their master and teacher arrested and killed. Even after the Lord had told them repeatedly he would rise, they just couldn’t see past their sorrow.

So the two Mary’s are sent to them: to rekindle hope, to deliver the message of good news.

Likely, there are people in our own lives: neighbors and family who suffer from similar sadness, fear, depression, those who think they are trapped in a cycle of bad luck, or face illness or unemployment. Perhaps the Lord wants to send us on a mission: to go to them to say, “the Lord will give you strength because he is risen…when life gets me down I find it important to go to the blessed Sacrament chapel…or a particular passage of scripture…or I pray a rosary every day in order to bring my troubles to God…or I make sure I gather together with other Christian families to know that I’m not alone”

Christ is alive, he is risen, and we can receive his life, his peace, his strength, his wisdom, when we unite ourselves to him and trust him.

May we be free from fear and faithful in proclaiming the good news this day and all days for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with paschal joy, let us pray more earnestly to God that he, who graciously listened to the prayers and supplications of his beloved Son, may now be pleased to look upon us in our lowliness.
1. For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely, the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.
2. For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace given by Christ.
3. For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness which no one can take from them.
4. For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ.
O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ Our Lord.