Gospel: Matthew 28:8-15
In fear, yet with great joy, the women left the tomb and ran to tell the news to his disciples.Suddenly, Jesus met them on the way and said, “Rejoice!” The women approached him, embraced his feet and worshiped him. But Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid! Go and tell my brothers to set out for Galilee; there, they will see me.”As the women proceeded on their way, some of the guards went into the city, and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. The chief priests met with the elders, and decided to give the soldiers a large sum of money, with this order, “Say that his disciples came by night while you were asleep, and stole the body of Jesus. If Pilate comes to know of this, we will explain the situation and keep you out of trouble.” The soldiers accepted the money and did as they were told. This story has circulated among the Jews until this day.

Reflections

“Do not be afraid!”Jesus is accessible to women. He appears to them along the way as they run to report to the disciples upon discovering that he is not in the tomb. Though they experience joy, Jesus still exhorts them to rejoice. The women spontaneously show their affection to him. He sends them to the disciples and announce his appearance, once they get to Galilee.Meanwhile, the soldiers guarding the tomb are in trouble. They report to the chief priests of the resurrection of Jesus. They in turn coach them to twist the story to discredit the miracle and to betray themselves saying they slept on the job. Again these priests bribe the soldiers, like Judas Iscariot.No matter what they do to cover up, the story will go on. We owe our faith to women who announced with joy Jesus’ victory over his enemies and death.A new story has just begun and there is no way of stopping it. Jesus resurrected only once but its story that can be told and retold many times. Its retelling is also our responsibility. It is not the monopoly of women. Stopping the talk is like being bribed by the chief priests.
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