In the Gospel for Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene runs to Jesus' tomb and sees that His body is not there. She returns to Simon Peter and John the Evangelist, thinking that someone has stolen Jesus' body. She says that she does not know where "they" (the thieves of the body) put Jesus. She is distressed, understandably so, that Jesus' body was seemingly stolen. Also stolen, she likely felt, was her ability to mourn Jesus completely.
It seems to me, as we are doing things that we have not done since Easter 2019, that we should remember those who lost loved ones during the pandemic. We should remember how these bereaved people were robbed of the ability to mourn fully the ones they had lost. During the height of Covid, many wakes and funerals were not what they were meant to be due to certain restrictions. And in this way, the bereaved were robbed. Though different than Mary's feeling of having been robbed, something very important was taken from these bereaved, the ability to mourn fully among all of their friends and families.
To me, this has been the longest Lent ever. It started in 2020 and is just now seeming to end. Each in our own ways, we have been robbed of highs and lows, and in many ways we will never get those moments back.
Sounds like a downer message for Easter, right? Maybe not entirely. We have been to the bottom of a deep dark well. And, as trite as it may sound, perhaps now the light of Jesus will seem brighter than before.
May you each experience a blessed Easter. Peace be with you.
- The Older Brother
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