Jesus, I trust in you

We are celebrating Easter with an uninvited guest: the coronavirus.  Don’t we all know it!

Jesus is with us in all this mess.

He too knew of a crown (“corona”) of thorns.  The Passion Readings of scripture tell us it was literally forced into his skull. 

But Easter brings THE transformation of everything.

It is suggested in St Paul’s letter to the Colossians.  He says: “But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.”

There is a key Easter word here: GLORY.

Easter brings the transformation from a crown of thorns to a crown of glory!  Here is the life-changing moment for all humanity: at the very moment we felt all was lost, all is found!  Thorns become glory!

We see this so clearly in the Easter Gospel from St John 20.

The crown of thorns are felt in Mary Magdalen’s words of terrible lament: “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have put him.”

These are our words in this pandemic.  All seems lost.  But this is not the case. The pandemic will pass.  Hope is present.

In this gospel passage from St John, it is the young disciple John, the one Jesus loved, who encounters this.

Peter and John run to the empty tomb.  John, being younger, arrives first.  He gives way to Peter, the first Pope, as the symbol of apostolic authority.  Peter goes into the empty tomb first.  He examines the scene in almost a forensic manner.  John is different.  He enters later.  The scripture is clear: “He saw and he believed.”

Love recognises love.  Heart speaks to heart.  Easter love ignites in the heart enlarged with hope and anticipation for love’s initiative of grace.

Even St Peter eventually experiences this Easter encounter.  We all love St Peter and his bumbling life journey.  He is like us all.

For St Peter, Easter faith took some time to bloom.  It takes us time in this pandemic to come to a similar reaffirmation that this time of thorns is a time of glory – an Easter time.

Jesus is far more patient with us than we are with ourselves and each other.  Let us be patient with each other.  We are not to lose hope.

As the Divine Mercy Sunday approaches (2nd Sunday of Easter), let us respond to the Risen Lord and say “Jesus, I trust in you”.

Alleluia!