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Gospel: John 20: 1-8
On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we do not know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Over the last three days, our readings have described the Christian journey in miniature.
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On Sunday, we celebrated the birth of our Lord. This is the beginning of any faith journey – believing in Jesus as Emmanuel, “God with us.”
The image of the Christ-child also becomes an appropriate image of our faith in that first, initial stage: small, humble, weak.
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Yesterday, we celebrated the Feast of Saint Stephen, who preached skillfully to crowds and ministered to widows.
Stephen represents what happens when faith matures: it becomes fully alive when moved into action.
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Today we encounter the final stage of our journey: the empty tomb, first experienced by our Lord.
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This becomes the journey of every Christian soul:
First, we believe in Jesus.
Then that belief moves into action.
Finally, we’ll be greeted by the Risen Lord whom we’ve served, when we find our tomb has been emptied, too.
So, how might my faith move me today?
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Image credits: (1) Pin on Christian, Pinterest (2) Christ Child, Madonna delle Ombre, Fra Angelico (3) worldchallenge.org