The tomb was empty, and now begins the search for a body. At the end of the day it won’t matter whose body, but unless the authorities can now somehow convince the people that the false messiah is actually dead and his predictions of rising from death were false, they will have a rioting mob on their hands who will demand their blood for executing the Messiah who, now offended, will disappear to heaven. So must have been the thoughts of Jesus’ persecutors who are now stuck with figuring out the mess of an execution committed at their instigation and pride.
This is now day 1 after the resurrection of our Lord. Saint Peter in today’s readings drives home this truth of who Jesus actually was and how the collective masses, at the instigation of the authorities, crucified the Lord of all glory but how and then he rose from the dead just as he said he would and that they, Peter and many others, were now witnesses of this.
How splendid! How magnificent! It’s all coming together oh so nicely. That masterpiece which the great Father of wisdom, in his infinite power, beautifully weaves together from before the beginning of time, is taking on a beautiful shape and continues to play out as we speak. In fact, the beginning and the end of time, as we know it, is all a part of that plan… so we are still in the unfolding stages of our Father’s great and divine masterpiece. We are a beautiful part of it, yes, even two-thousand years after Jesus’ resurrection.
Now, you see, Jesus is both at once with us, and yet he remains invisible for the most part. With the apostles he appeared, disappeared, appeared again, disappeared again etc. We feel him, but we cannot see him.
The apostles would later marvel at this. Saint Peter, who like we saw in the first reading was initially concerned with establishing the facts with the same people who most likely had a hand in Jesus’ death, would eventually be thrilled to see the faith of people in the primitive Church who believed their report, their testimony – that is, the eyewitness accounts of the apostles, especially given mind you, that they were accompanied with signs from heaven. However, listen to Peter’s elations here:
“You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.” 1 Pet 1:8.
Most of us fall into this category. Are there mystics and people whom Jesus visits in bodily and visible form? Absolutely. Those are precious children with whom he is focusing on some particular truth pertinent to the times but always useful for our salvation which he hopes to extend through them for reasons known to him alone. Yet for the most part, with most of us, he’s hoping we will persevere in not seeing, yet believing, for blessed shall we be. And it’s not easy! Definitely. No one ever said it was going to be easy.
The first to experience this we can say, was Thomas. As it is day one after Easter Sunday, and Thomas by now would have been told about how Jesus appeared to many, including all the apostles, we know that he had a hard time with that. This is now already a full 24 hours of scepticism that plagued the heart of this apostle, so beloved to our Lord and who would eventually go on to shed his blood while proclaiming the resurrection.
How long will we let disbelief fester in our souls, even after we have seen so many goodnesses of God in our lives brothers and sisters? For while Thomas is now in agony, the rest of the group is in ecstasy. While one is still slumbering in the depressing state of helplessness, the others have been reinvigorated with the dawn of a new reality, a heavenly joy which will now only be tested by the incredulity of their fellow Man. Think of how many things had now suddenly been made new in their realities just as for example, when Saint Francis experienced the risen Lord, his world was altered: now, they are certain that God exists and there is life after death. Now they know that Jesus is undoubtedly the Son of God and equal to God, for no one had spoken and done the things he did, even going so far as to say he and the Father are one, and that the great name of God, “I Am” was applicable to himself. Now all these things are sure, and not merely ambiguities. Now, everything Jesus ever said to each of those individuals who were blessed to see him in risen and glorious form, would be words and events that they would always remember, and now they felt impelled and responsible for disseminating to the rest of the world, for the rest of human history to come, that in the midst of the darkness of the world, God’s Light has dawned upon us, to shine on those who live in darkness and the shadow of death and to let them know that death no longer holds dominion over them. Yet, human nature resists believing. It prefers darkness over Light. It buckled before the divine goodness of Jesus. Notice in the gospel today, the immediate reaction of the authorities is a cover-up. It’s a deliberate and meticulous plan to deceive the masses. Total opposite of the absolute truth to be found in Jesus. Sound familiar?
How this world has fallen, brothers and sisters, and is inundated with diabolical attacks which have penetrated the very heart of man, so deep as to have entered into the Church with malicious vehemence. We shouldn’t be surprised. Jesus promised us scandal would always be with us. Judas was one of the first in the long line of unfortunate cases where temptation was overpowering. Entire studies have been done on this, but suffice it to reiterate from above, some people have believed in our Lord without seeing, and some, no matter how much goodness and grace God sends into their lives, remain obstinately anti-God, and this is why Jesus says that those who do not receive the good news are condemned already for not having believed the One who was sent by God.
“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son” John 3:18.
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” Mark 16:16.
A lot is on the line, so let us pray today in a particular way for all these brothers and sisters of ours who have been entrenched in evil for many years and who would find it near impossible to dig their way out of the abyss, even if they wanted to, because nothing is impossible with God and his mercy is infinite. Nothing is beyond God’s power, and even the corrupt and lost heart of a powerful elite leader or oligarch or pro-satanic activist (to name a few) is never beyond the all-powerful reach of God.
Let us with charity pray for all these souls and also for the souls who conspired against Jesus and then after learning he was actually who he said he was, remained obstinate and continued to intentionally deceive the masses… let us pray for them as well, for God is not limited by time in the way we are. To him a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day, as Saint Peter reminded us. So, while we still retain the joy of Easter in our hearts and the heroism it inspires in us, let us pray to our Lord:
“Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of your mercy.”
Can we see the heart with which Jesus desires us to love? A humble heart, because even we need to be saved from hell.
Go out there, give them his Sacred Heart and let his true love transform the world while remembering that our Blessed Mother Mary, all the angels and saints, in particular Saint Michael the Archangel is with you, along with your guardian angel to protect and guide you.
Courage, peace and joy prayed your way. Halleluia, Halleluia, Halleluia … praised be to God, praised be to God, praised be to God! Jesus is risen and risen indeed!
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I wonder about torrents of grace poured out on souls that remain obstinate in their unbelief … and what must that feel like… imagine even then Pope, and the amount of prayers and grace he receives daily just from the daily offerings of the church, the masses, the indulgences
But the I think it’s the humanist/“good atheist”/areligious that is in the more dangerous position … because even a tyrant, satanist murderer has the natural law written on his heart and know he’s going against natural law. These are the worst sinners that might come to know the depths of their depravity and need verses the average person or intellect that believes everything is in their power and control and efforts
God have mercy on us all
And
Come Lord Jesus… show us ourselves 🤍🙏🏽