RESURRECT THE ENCOUNTER

There is a hidden message in the Resurrection.

Believers celebrate Christ’s redemptive triumph over death, and revel in the penultimate mystery of Christian faith... that the possibility of eternal life is now within their reach.

But believers and unbelievers can find the hidden message of the Resurrection in the Encounter.

The Encounter occurred several times in the aftermath of the crucifixion, always with the same refrain:
“Do you not recognize me?”

First as they rolled away the stone and found an empty tomb...
the stranger they met looked like the gardener...
“Do you not recognize me?”

Then on the road to Emmaus...
“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t you know what happened? Don’t you know who was crucified?”

“Do you not recognize me?”

In a gathering in the Upper Room His follower Thomas asked to see the holes in His hands and his side.
“Do you not recognize me?”

Even as He appeared by the Sea of Galilee, where His followers had listened to him preach and watched him perform miracles, they did not know who He was.
“Cast your nets...”
“Do you not recognize me?”

Christ’s stunned and disheartened followers still walk among us… former believers, struggling believers, doubting and confused.

The opening of their eyes,

the rolling away of the stone,

the essence of the Christian way of life,

His final lesson...

is in the Encounter.

How blessed were His followers that, despite their shortsightedness, they were called to witness the risen Christ. In a similar way, when we are called to encounter with another, it is a gift. We are drawn by the force of the attraction of love. We wouldn’t have had the wisdom to ask for it. But it is a gift from God.

The sick and the dying, the meek and the poor, the abandoned and the excluded, can feel marginalized as they are isolated from society. In few moments - through a brief Encounter - we can break that isolation. Our gift of presence can totally change the disposition of that marginalized person, and will likely change our own.

Christianity knows no differences among people. No economic or hierarchical status matters - we are all daughters and sons of God. Through the hidden message of the Encounter, we resurrect shared blessings. Stories flow, memories are relived. Life is renewed.

In our Christian tradition, the Passion and Crucifixion are over. The Resurrection has taken place. Christ has reappeared through encounters with several of His friends. And, recognizing Him, they have responded to His call to go out and live his message of love.

The rest of our lives as Christians begins today. For today is just like the day after the Resurrection. We are still called to spread love and compassion. We are still called to the Encounter.

May we harness the brilliance of this holy celebration of Life after life.

And, elevating our minds in spiritual reflection,
may we shout a resounding “Amen!”