We are Easter people because we know how the story ends. Frequently during Lent and particularly during Holy Week I try to imagine how those events felt for the people who had followed Jesus and believed him the Messiah. It is hard to imagine precisely because we are on the other side of the cross and the tomb.
What stands out to me in today’s final reflection and the Holy Saturday reflection is we would not know the end of the story if it were not for the women. Both of these reflections rightfully focus on the “faithful women” who, through their grief and fear, showed up to do their duty.
It is no coincidence that as we study, think and pray we find connections. Just last week I read the prologue to Rachel Held Evans’ final book, completed after her untimely death. In it she explains she is a Christian because of the women, throughout the Bible, who showed up. As she recounts, it is Mary Magdalene who first declares, “I have seen the Lord!” She was truly the apostle to the apostles.
As we move from Lent to Eastertide and through the rest of our year, my challenge to myself and to you is to be like the “faithful women” and SHOW UP!
God Bless
Ed Enoch, EFM Alumnus
