Daily Reflections

Reflection:

Grief is a container for many emotions. We can be overwhelmed with sadness or wonder why we are not. The trivial can become gigantic and the gigantic can be overwhelming. And the challenging thing in a group or family situation is that not everyone reacts in the same ways or at the same time. Add fear and being away from the familiar and it is quite a mix!

What did it take for Mary to go to the tomb on that Sunday morning? A sense of duty or doing what was right by tradition? A way of being closer to a person she loved even after death? Being courageous, when maybe other disciples were telling her not to go, despite tradition, in case it alerted authorities to the group’s whereabouts? What was it like to be disbelieved by the group on her return when she was the first witness to the Resurrection?

The two who encountered Jesus in a different form as they walked in the country? Had they left Jerusalem with shattered dreams of the Messiah or in fear of their own lives? What was it like for the two of them not to be believed? How did it change their joyous experience to face confrontation and having their experience questioned?

The Eleven only believe when the risen Lord appears to them despite everything that Jesus has said to them as they travelled towards Jerusalem and the experiences of Mary and the two. Perhaps it was their grief that made believing so hard?  Their belief does lead to faith and to action as with Peter and John in the first reading.

Alison Gore is a parishioner at St Paul of the Cross, Glen Osmond. She works in education and formation.