April 12, The Resurrection of the Lord

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. -- Psalm 118:24

Mass readings: Acts 10:34,37-43 / Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 / John 20:1-9 or Mark 16:1-7 or, at an afternoon or evening Mass, Luke 24:13-35

He Saw and Believed

Part of Easter when I was a kid was egg hunts at Grandma's house. This meant a lot of excitement and running around in her big yard, with five kids in my family and our five cousins. Of course, we would have been pretty disappointed if the searching didn't end with finding quite a few eggs.

In today's Gospel, there's also a lot of running, and a strange sort of finding. Mary Magdalen runs to the disciples; they run to the tomb, with John out racing Peter. They seem to find nothing, only the empty grave. Yet, ''John saw and believed.'' He saw emptiness and found faith. Recognizing the emptiness of life without Christ, he found faith in the Risen One. The more we recognize our need for Christ, the more our faith may deepen.

Prayer: Lord, increase my faith.