Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 15, 2023
When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week,
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he had driven seven demons.
She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping.
When they heard that he was alive
and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
After this he appeared in another form
to two of them walking along on their way to the country.
They returned and told the others;
but they did not believe them either.
But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them
and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart
because they had not believed those
who saw him after he had been raised.
He said to them, “Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Today’s gospel compares two failed attempts to communicate the resurrection with a successful one. The first two episodes emphasize that the resurrection story, even when perfectly told and heard, is not always adequately engaged.
The breakdown occurs no matter how Jesus appears to the storyteller, whether as he does to Mary Magdalene or in “another form.” Why? The resurrection resists transmission through storytelling alone because belief requires more than hearing and communicating more than telling.
The third successful episode dispenses with an intermediary storyteller and widens the earlier focus on belief. While rebuking the apostles, Jesus does not command belief as the resolution, but his directive to “go and proclaim” enjoins much more.
Today marks the first anniversary of my mom’s death. It was the day mom showed us what more Jesus imagines for us all: that engaging the resurrection is found in living the story.
In dying on a Good Friday one year ago, mom’s story merged entirely with the story of Christ’s death. Like the apostles who directly engaged in the resurrection only by reliving the Last Supper “at table” with Jesus, my mom’s life, once a mere likeness, became one with Christ’s.
As mom passed away, the nurse came in with her stethoscope, declared her dead, and noted the time. As the nurse walked out, I said, “Look, mom’s actually still breathing.”
Her last breath was not that of a storyteller, but rather the breath of the God of Genesis—the breath that blows across the void to generate light and animates the apostles in today’s gospel.
What to the stethoscope was an empty tomb was—to us who live Christ’s story—the fertile ground of new life.
Prayer
God of all wisdom and grace, you fill us with unwavering zeal to proclaim the truth of our faith wherever your Spirit leads us. Give us courage and determination to live out our faith even amid this harsh and challenging world. May our lives reflect your radiance as you lead us into your promise of everlasting life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Anastasia and a friend, Basilissa, were Roman noblewomen who were converted to the faith when they heard the preaching of Sts. Peter and Paul.
When Peter and Paul were killed, these two women removed their bodies at night and provided for their burial. The authorities discovered their actions, and they were arrested and thrown into prison. When they were brought before the court, they acknowledged their faith without fear and were martyred.
The relics of St. Anastasia rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus.
St. Anastasia, you were the Roman martyr who was converted by Peter and Paul—pray for us!