It Is "Extra Dark"

 Father Michael Fish

Mary of Mandela goes to the tomb early in the morning, while it is still dark. She finds it empty, runs and tells the Apostles. Peter and John rush to the tomb, find it indeed empty except for the folded linen wrapping cloths, bewildered they leave. Mary remains, dawn is breaking. She peers again into the darkness and sees two Angels sitting there. Then, hearing someone behind her she turns around, weeping, sees who she thinks is the gardener, but he is the Risen Christ who calls her name.

It is extra dark, just before dawn and this is where most of us have been, and probably still are, these past months and years of Covid and, now, Ukraine. We have been overwhelmed with death, dying, emptiness, loss, grief and uncertainty. Then, the feast of Easter, like a sunrise (a daily sacrament of resurrection), and the Risen One, in disguise, calls to us.

This Easter invites us to turn from the tomb, and in the blinding light, realize the Beloved is there and has been all along, in one of His many disguises – gardener, pilgrim stranger, breakfast chef, campfire maker, wound specialist, magician – calling our name and offering us Shalom-peace. The Resurrection is best grasped as it ricochets in our lives. Let’s turn around, into the light of the Rising Son, and, like Mary of Magdala, become a messenger of hope and peace to our world.

Buen Camino, Newsletter of Fr. Michael Fish