Open to New Life

Homily for Monday of Easter Week

In today’s readings, we meet two very different reactions to the Resurrection.

On one side, we have the women in Matthew’s Gospel—running from the empty tomb fearful yet overjoyed. They don’t fully understand what has happened, but their hearts are open. They allow wonder to move them. They allow hope to take the lead. And because of that openness, they encounter the risen Jesus on the way.

On the other side, we have the guards and the chief priests. They see the same event, the same empty tomb, the same truth breaking into the world. But instead of openness, they choose control. Instead of wonder, they choose fear. They try to contain the Resurrection with a story, a payoff, a cover-up. They cling to the old world even as God is creating a new one right in front of them.

Peter, in Acts, stands before the crowd and boldly proclaims what God has done: “God raised Jesus up, and of this we are all witnesses.” Peter isn’t speaking theory. He’s speaking from experience. He has allowed the Resurrection to reshape him.

And that’s the question these readings quietly ask us:

Which response to the Resurrection do we live out—openness or fear?

Most of us don’t reject the Resurrection outright. But we sometimes resist the ways God tries to bring new life into our ordinary days. We cling to old habits, old hurts, old patterns. We prefer the familiar, even when it limits us.

Psalm 16 gives us the antidote: “You will show me the path of life.” Not a path, not my path—the path of life. God is not trying to take anything from us. God is trying to lead us into joy, into freedom, into a life that is larger than our fears.

So today, in the middle of a weekday, with all the routines and responsibilities waiting for us, maybe the invitation is simple:

Let the Resurrection surprise you. Let it move you. Let it open something in you.

Because the risen Christ still meets people “on the way”—in the middle of errands, work, conversations, and ordinary moments—just as He met the women running from the tomb.

May we be ready to recognize Him.