By Father Andrew Kelly
Sunday’s Easter Gospel (Mark 16:1-8) is every Sunday in the believing community: “And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.”
On Easter, and every Sunday, the question is: “Who will remove the stone that keeps the community away from the Lord?”
But once in the gathering space, the stone is already removed. Through word, body and blood the community sees and hears the “…young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side…”
“Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.”
Like the women, the community is amazed and in awe by what it hears and sees in the Lord’s word, body and blood.
Every Sunday the Easter question arises: “What does the community do with the Easter mission?”
“But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”
The alleluias are the easy part of Easter. The decision about the Easter mission either makes or breaks the believing community.
(Father Andrew Kelly is a retired priest of the Diocese of Davenport.)