Michelle Dunne, OFS
“Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
The resurrection narratives are so stirring. In the Gospel reading for the Easter vigil (Luke 24:1-12), Mary Magdalene and two other women go to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ crucified body. Instead, they find two dazzling angels, who stun them by asking, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here but he has been raised.” The apostles do not believe the women’s story, which “seemed like nonsense,” but Peter at least was curious enough to run to the tomb to investigate. He goes home “amazed at what had happened.”
Meditating on this passage leads me to ask myself why I persist in seeking the living one among the dead. Jesus tells us that he came so that we might have life in abundance (John 10:10), but too often I can get stuck on parts of myself, my history, and my so[1]called life that are in effect dead, no longer life-giving. As we conclude Lent and move towards Easter, now is the time to ask God to show me what are the old habits of mind, heart, and living that I need to leave behind to follow Jesus and share in his abundant life.
In recent years—especially since becoming a Secular Franciscan—I’ve done much sorting out of the parts of my life that had become deadening: work, preoccupations, associations, and patterns of consumption that held no growth for me (and not much benefit to anyone else either). At the same time, God had begun to show me new ways of living that challenged me, took me out of my comfort zones, and were deeply reinvigorating. This involved for me stepping out with both of the “two feet of love in action,” defined by Catholic social teaching as charitable works and advocacy for social justice. Charity involves meeting the short term needs of those experiencing poverty, hardships, or injustice, while advocacy involves speaking up about those hardships and injustices and how they need to be addressed. Without direct contact with those affected, social justice efforts can be abstract and even misguided; but without action to address systemic injustices, charity work can become overly detached and even condescending.
How might God be calling you to move beyond deadened areas and seek new life in the resurrected Christ Easter? Might you step forward with both feet of love in action? Are there new ways you can serve those in need as well as express solidarity with those suffering from injustice and disadvantages? Seek the living one among the living!