Monday in the Octave of Easter

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce the news to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Fearful yet overjoyed is such a strange feeling and yet it isn’t an uncommon feeling in our lives. Whenever we receive new or unsuspected good news we can undergo these feelings of fear and joy. When we hear we have gotten into college, been hired for a new job, fall in love with someone, discover we are about to have a child, or any other life-changing event, we can be faced not only with a sense of joy, but also of questioning, doubts, and even fear. What a blessing all these events can be, but they also challenge us to die to our old and sometimes comfortable lives and risk living a life we don’t have a handle on. This is why Jesus’ first words are “Do not be afraid.” He is letting his disciples know that although their lives are about to drastically change, they have nothing to fear because he will go before them and prepare the way. He does the same for us when we are faced with these changes. We have only to trust that Jesus is going before us and making everything ready.

Have we ever been fearful yet overjoyed? Do we place our trust in God whenever we are faced with the unknown? Are we willing to risk the lives we know and are comfortable with in order to do God’s Will?

O Lord, we are not afraid because we believe you are always preparing the path before us.

Amen.