Easter Monday
"Mt 28:8-15"
So the women departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Hail!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."
They say that the sentence: "Do not be afraid!" can be found in the Bible more than 300 times. Good teachers always repeat the message that they want to get across. And You, Lord, said it many times to Your disciples. So many times that they never forgot the tone of Your voice saying, "Do not be afraid!"
But what could Mary Magdalene be afraid of now?! Probably she had one single fear: the fear of losing Jesus again. Have you ever found a little child in a crowd, crying because he or she couldn't find Mum? You saw the mother looking for the child nearby and said to the child, "Look, there she is!" and the tearful child rushed off towards her. Children of God should never be afraid of anything. The disciples were afraid because they had lost Jesus on Good Friday. Their hopes were over, their discouragement stopped them moving forward; fear paralyses. It happens to Christians when, like the little child, they don't feel Jesus' close presence, when they move away from Him by sinning.
My God, may I never be afraid of anything except losing You through sin. And if that happens again - for I know very well how weak I am - I beg You to come and search me out as You did these holy women and Your frightened Apostles. O my Jesus, if ever You see me in distress or on the verge of temptation, come and let me hear Your voice again: "Do not be afraid."
"I plead with you - never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Do not be afraid... Do not be afraid to become the saints of the new millennium!" (St John Paul II). "Today I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything" (Pope Benedict XVI). My Mother, stay close to this little child of yours that I am. Then I will fear nothing.
