April 18 – Among

According to Luke, the women go to the tomb early Sunday morning to tend to the corpse of their beloved, and there they find it all changed. The tomb wide open. The body gone. Two dazzling men waiting for them inside – angels? And the men ask the women, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

It seems like an important question. Because, honestly, aren’t we still looking for Jesus? And, don’t you wonder, are we spending our time, energy, and money looking for him in the wrong places?

I read a story recently about a man who lost his faith. He lost it in church – that happens sometimes. He talked about having a God-shaped hole in him, and he seemed to think he could fill that hole with a woman. But it didn’t work. She didn’t want to be his god.

Where do we look for Jesus – among the living or the dead? For many of us, it’s a matter of how we approach our faith practices. Do we worship the rituals, the way things have always been? Do we revere the traditions to the extent that we reject any change to them?

Do we love our liturgy more than we love our Lord? Because, if we do, then I am afraid it is dead. And we won’t find the living among the dead.

I know change is hard. But Jesus has been asking us to change since the beginning. He knows it’s hard. But if we go on this journey, he will be there with us. 

To look for the living among the living.