Dear Parish Family,

     I enjoy watching sports. Though I never was one to play basketball, or baseball, or football on a competitive basis, there are times when I enjoy catching a game on TV or even in person. Every sports team has one goal in mind, to win the championship. Some teams have a better chance than others, but every team starts out the season with that goal in mind of being the last one standing, of being able to engage in that familiar championship tradition of jumping up & down, high
fiving, hugging, pouring champagne over each other’s heads, & hoisting the trophy into the air. We experienced it once here in Cleveland over the past few years & I hope that we’re able to experience it again soon.

  Winning a sports championship is great, but what’s even better is the Resurrection. But yet, when we find the apostles encountering the Risen Lord, we don’t find any type of championship celebrations. There was no champagne back then, but when the Risen Lord appears in their midst, there’s no hugging, no jumping up & down, no trophy being hoisted, but rather, as we hear today, they were troubled & filled with fear. The Risen Lord asks them today, “Why are you troubled?”

  It’d be great if the reality of the Resurrection meant no more trouble. It’d be great if knowing that the Risen Lord was with us removed all fear, anxiety, & worry from our lives. But even with the knowledge that Jesus is alive, they were troubled & so too are we, troubled with fears of this pandemic, worries of struggles that we’re experiencing in our personal lives. But Jesus doesn’t criticize the disciples for their being troubled, he doesn’t condemn them, rather he shows them His hands & feet, He shows them His wounds.

  He’s showing them that the wounds of Good Friday, that He went through & ours that we are still going through, can & will be transformed into the joys of new life. The struggles that we’re going through right now can end up being ways through which God transforms us. Our challenges, our troubles, can be invitations to new life. Maybe we’re not jumping up & down for joy like we’ve won the championship just yet, but the Risen Lord reminds us that the struggles of Good Friday always have the possibility of being transformed into the joys of Easter.