Empty Tomb – Read Lk 24: 1-12
Contemplation
Sunday morning. The day of rest is over, and we are going out in the early morning – the air is cold, the light just beginning to show, the ground is wet. Everyone is still shocked and sickened by what happened on Friday. Still, the body has to be wrapped and treated, and the women with whom I am walking know just what to do. We walk through the trees, night birds calling. We are carrying spices and bandages to wrap the dead body of Jesus. I can smell the bittersweet incense and feel the rough bandages. As we get up to the big stone …. It’s empty.
The stone is gone. Horror! Has someone stolen the body? It’s not inside! Who would do such a thing? Graves are holy! Suddenly, there’s light – and it’s not the sun. Two men are standing there – they seem to have come out of nowhere – and their clothes are shining. They are saying … that Jesus is alive! Reminding us of what he said while he was still with us. Running back, we tell the other disciples at home the news. As we burst in through the door, we find them, all sad. They don’t seem interested in what we have to say. They say we’re just women, what would we know? Neither the village women like Mary nor the cultivated noblewomen like Joanna can get them to listen. The only one who finally volunteers to go and have a look is Peter. He runs to the tomb and sees the burial cloths all folded up on the stone bench in the cool, dark tomb.
Talk to all the people. What does the journey to and from the tomb feel like?
What are the men in bright clothes like?
How do I react?
What does it feel like talking to the other disciples?
Who do I feel closest to?