Presence

I pause for a moment, aware that God is here.
I think of how everything around me,
the air I breathe, my whole body,
is tingling with the presence of God.

Freedom

I ask for the grace to believe
in what I could be and do
if I only allowed God, my loving Creator,
to continue to create me, guide me and shape me.

Consciousness

I ask how I am within myself today.
Am I particularly tired, stressed, or off-form?
If any of these characteristics apply,
can I try to let go of the concerns that disturb me?

The Word of God

¹Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ²So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, ⁹for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

Inspiration

On this strange dawn, we are praying in a darkness that is outside time, like that of astronauts circling in space: beyond sunsets and sunrises, seeing the beginning and the end of our days. We look back to that breathless morning when the apostles saw the holy women come back from the tomb with a story of angels. A bloodless corpse, transfixed by a spear, had risen again with a mysterious new life. Jesus had kept his promise. Death, our oldest enemy, had been mastered.

When Jesus raised Lazarus, Lazarus had to be freed from his grave-clothes. Jesus' grave-clothes are rolled up and lying on the side, a reflection of his mastery over death. I stand in the doorway beside the entrance and stare into that empty tomb. Do I grasp the difference between this resurrection and that of Lazarus?

Conversation

Lord, help me to connect with You. I don’t always know how, but I want to receive Your love and I open my hands and my heart to You. Please come to me today.

Conclusion

I thank God for His gift of love
as I go forth with joy and hope
to serve His people.

Amen