When we fall and find our cliff hanger

Easter Gospel - John 20:11-18

When I was a kid, my brother and I would go to the movies on Saturday morning. Fifteen cents would buy us a good half day of entertainment. One of the features was a serial movie. Typically the hero and a villain would be in a fight near the end of the episode. Suddenly the hero would lose his balance and the villain would push him over a cliff. When the villain looked over the edge all he would see was a puff of dust at the bottom. With a smirk on his face he would get on his horse and ride away. In order to find out what happened you needed to go back the following Saturday. There, the same scene would be shot from a different angle and you would see the hero grab a root and hang just below the edge of the cliff. A large rock would be tumbling down, then hit the ground and cause a puff of dust. Our hero would climb up, get on his horse and continue to pursue the villain. We knew that the hero would survive but did not know how until the next episode. These serials were called cliff hangers because they left you hanging until the next episode.

Well, in a way, the apostles, disciples and women followers of Jesus were in a cliff hanger situation. Jesus had told them, innumerable times, that He would rise from the dead but they never envisioned what He was talking about. If I was there I would not have understood either. I mean, after all, they had seen Jesus beaten, scourged to the edge of death, crowned with thorns, forced to carry a heavy cross up a hill, and nailed to the cross. When he finally died a lance was thrust into his chest to make sure he was dead. How could He possibly survive all of that?  His disciples took his body down and brought Him to a donated tomb. His mother and the other women followers hastily prepared His body in accordance with Jewish tradition. A heavy stone was then placed over the entrance to the tomb as they reach the end of their cliff hanger. At this point the apostles, disciples and women followers did not understand the next episode was coming three days later.

This leads us up to today’s reading of the gospel. The four gospels vary somewhat in the narrative of what happens from here forward. There are a few things that were consistent. One is that Jesus resurrected. Another is that Mary, the mother of Jesus is not there. Why?  Because she already knew he was gone. And last, that Mary Magdalene is in all four accounts and that she is the first to see the resurrected Jesus. 

In John’s gospel we find Mary Magdalene going up to Jesus’ tomb and finds the stone sealing the tomb had been rolled away. She reacts just like most people would. She believes someone had taken her Lord’s body away. What would you think had happened if you were Mary Magdalene?  In a panic, she runs to the Apostles to tell them. If you were the Apostles, what would you think?  Peter and the other disciple, normally assumed to be John, run to the tomb, and, low and behold, Mary Magdalene was right. They still did not understand the scripture that Jesus had to rise again and they walk away, “each his own way”. Can you imagine their devastation?  They had given up everything to follow Jesus. They believed he was the Son of God, the Messiah. Now he was dead and all their hopes and dreams crushed. What would they do?  Where would they go?  I am sure that it occurred to them that they were the next target for torture and execution and they would be right.

When Mary Magdalene had started gathering her composure she looked into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain. They ask why she is weeping. She says that they had taken her Lord and she does not know where have placed Him. When she turns around Jesus is standing behind her. As you would expect she did not recognize Him. Imagine standing at your grandmother’s grave.  You imagine her as you last saw her, old wrinkled, sick and dying. You really loved her and now she is gone. As you turn around to walk away there is young pretty woman standing there. Then, she calls you by name and you recognize her as your grandmother. She says she loved you very much and then disappears. Well, Mary Magdalene was in exactly that situation. The last time she had seen Jesus, He was severely disfigured and covered in blood. When Jesus says Mary’s name, her eyes are opened and she recognizes Him. He tells her to go tell the others. So, Mary Magdalene is the one to announce to all the followers that Jesus has arisen.

What happens when we find ourselves in a cliff hanger situation?  I have been through many. One project I was working on hit a totally unexpected snag and there seemed to be no solution. What was I going to do?  I had no idea. Out of literally millions of pieces of data, a large batch of data was corrupted. How do you separate bad data from good data when it all looks alike?

Have you had crises in your life when no solution seemed possible?  Crisis in our lives seem to be continuous. They include sins we regret, marital problems, children who have lost their faith, fear of losing your job, sickness and death of loved ones, our own suffering from diseases and illnesses and on and on. Our human nature drives us to find solutions to our problems. Yet there are times when no solution seems possible. So what do we do?  As Catholics we have options. We can pray, go to mass and receive the Eucharist, sit quietly in church and meditate, etc. There are so many ways to simply turn our problems to over to our God, who loves us and is waiting for us to come to Him for help. I have done all of these at one time or another. Somehow, despite a great deal of anxiety, it has always worked out.

When you think about the crisis not only in our own personal lives but in the world, solutions seem insurmountable. There is the rise of secularism and atheism. Abortion has gone from the first few days of pregnancy to the moment of birth and, in some places, infanticide after birth. But, there have been times in history where the impossible becomes possible. For example, when the missionaries were trying to evangelize South America they were failing miserably. Then, through the intervention of Blessed Mary at Guadalupe, practically all of South America was converted in a very short time. And, if you want to look at Moses, there was the parting of the sea, water from a rock, bread from heaven, and on and on. Notice that in all of these instances God intervened but left the implementation to the people. The Franciscans still had to evangelize but were greatly aided by the graces that flowed through our Blessed Mother. Moses still had to hold his staff high for the waters to part and the Jews had to step between walls of water. Moses had to initially hit the rock with his staff to produce water. The Jews had to gather the manna by hand and had to follow the rules given by God.

In the case of the followers of Jesus, He came to them in their hour of greatest need and grief. Then they had to become the bearers of the good news to the rest of the world. Likewise, in moments of turmoil and impossible situations He will come to our aid if we only ask in all humility and in prayer. 

I would like to conclude with a few lines from Psalm 31 that I believe was intended to describe Jesus’ turmoil at the end of His earthly life. Yet, in spite of great sorrow, Jesus simply turns himself over to the Father. Since we are to imitate the life of Jesus, it also is a lesson for us to follow in our many lifetime crises. When all seems lost, there is always hope with the aid of our Lord.

“A Psalm of David according to an ecstasy. In you, Lord, I have hoped; let me never be confounded. In your justice, deliver me. Incline your ear to me. Hasten to rescue me. Be for me a protector God and a house of refuge, so as to accomplish my salvation. God you are my strength and my refuge; and for the sake of your name, you will lead me and nourish me. You will lead me out of this snare, which has been hidden from me. God you are my protector. Into your hands I commend my spirit.”