The Monday After


 

So here it is, the day after Easter – the Monday After.

I can only imagine what it must have been like for the first disciples of Jesus. He was brutally killed by evil men, and they were there to see it happen.
He was dead, his physical body battered and destroyed.
He left them, bloody and ruined, and was laid inside on a hole carved from rock.
A stone was rolled over the hole and as far as anyone knew from their experience, he would not be seen again.

Then, out of the blue He disappeared from the tomb, with reports circulating that he was alive, but different – now glorified with heavenly light and power.

Imagine their situation. They were flustered, afraid, and baffled by the whole thing.
And because they were known associates of Jesus, they expected that the now-emboldened Jewish authorities might kill them, too. So they hid out in a closed room.

It took a while for them to grasp what had happened; indeed, several ”Mondays After” would have to pass before it sunk in for all of them.

Some of them recalled the words of Jesus and the prophesies. and understood quickly. Meanwhile, others took longer to accept what had happened. At least one went total Facebook and said he wouldn't believe it at all unless he could see and touch it himself. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

So yeah, we get it – the Resurrection was unlike anything they could imagine or expect. It was difficult to understand that Jesus truly lived up to what he said, that his disfigured and dead human body had been revived, re-invigorated, and raised in glory.
They struggled, they doubted, and more than a few visits from our Blessed Lord were needed to make it clear that HE MEANT WHAT HE SAID.

Today, perhaps, you are in a similar place. It may be too fantastic to comprehend or contemplate. Colored eggs and bunnies might be easier to accept.
Perhaps you and I are like them - we need OUR Mondays After, too. I know I'm still al little overwhelmed by it.

The eventful Big Weekend has ended and we are standing there trying to filter through the idea that death will come to us, but it will not hold us in its grasp unless we allow it to. We have a home somewhere else, and it's not a dead hole, or hell. HE did it, and maybe we can, too.

If that's where you are, relax. Absorb it all. Let it wash over you and keep it on the tip of your tongue.
More Mondays can some to help you sort it out.

In the meantime, let each day move you to recall your baptismal promises:

Reject sin and evil, daily

Embrace the Lord, hourly

Do His works, constantly

Live for Him, wholly


If you have not made these promises, get with the program and do so.
Give in to this Monday After and let it change you.

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