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Why are scary movies so popular?
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For example, how many of us remember Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds? Or maybe a young Christian Bale in American Psycho.
Then there was the classic film, Silence of the Lambs.
It still gives me the chills.
I remember, in particular, the basement scene, when Buffalo Bill turned on his night vision goggles and began his slow pursuit of Clarice, the young FBI agent.
Haunting.
But Stephen King’s thrillers take the cake.
Perhaps you’ve seen It or the newly released, Pet Sematary.
Not me. No thank you.
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Again, why do these movies consistently top the box office?
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Perhaps it’s because they play on a fear we all have – the fear of being pursued – pursued by someone stronger than we are.
Even kids play innocently on this fear when they’re on the playground.
For example, how many of us remember playing “hide-and-go-seek” or “tag, you’re it”?
That feeling of knowing someone else is in hot pursuit of us is chilling, making our heart pound.
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Conversely, there is no better feeling than knowing you’re safe.
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We see that age old fear of being pursued at work in the Gospel.
Thomas and the other disciples are hiding in a tiny room in Jerusalem, because they believe they’re being pursued.
“If the secular and religious authorities banned together to put Jesus to death, then they must be out for us,” they must have thought.
“Why not stomp out this newly formed Christian movement while it’s still small? The powers that be will crush us like an ant.”
And they were right.
Someone else is pursuing them.
Only it’s not who they expect.
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It’s the Risen Christ.
“Peace be with you,” Jesus says. “Do not be afraid, it is I.”
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For forty days and forty nights, Jesus pursues his disciples, appearing behind their closed doors, showing them he is not a ghost; their lives have not become some scary movie with a horrible ending.
Rather, they are safe – and so is Jesus. He is alive! He is risen from the dead!
But seeing the Risen Christ has come at a cost. They must share this good news with the world.
“Tag, you’re it,” Jesus says. Get to work.
The disciples are now the pursuers.
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And so are we.
Like the Apostles, we’ve have all had some experience of the Risen Christ, an experience that we must share with the world.
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I say this, in particular, to our young people who are going to receive their First Holy Communion.
Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, Jesus is present.
That’s why Holy Communion matters so much – Jesus enters your life – never to leave you again.
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But such an incredible gift comes with great responsibility.
Jesus is calling us no less than the twelve Apostles to share this good news of his resurrection – and the hope of our own – with the world.
That can be done anywhere from the playground to the dinner table. Wherever we go, we can speak of Christ’s victory over death.
It is his – and it is ours!
Tag, you’re it!