SAINT DOMINIC, PRIEST (MEMORIAL)

He will be raised on the third day. 

Of course the disciples were “overwhelmed with grief” (Matthew 17:23)! Jesus had just told them he was going to die. But that’s not all he said. He also told them that he would be raised up on the third day. Somehow, they missed that part.

It wasn’t the first time this happened either. When Jesus first predicted his passion, Peter skipped right over the resurrection and focused only on the disturbing news that Jesus had to die first (Matthew 16:21-23). And the very same thing happened a third time (20:17-20). All the disciples could focus on was Jesus’ death.

We often have similar reactions when we hear bad news or when we think we see dark times looming on the horizon. We wonder why Jesus would let this happen. Our fear and disappointment cloud our thinking, and we have a hard time trusting him or seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

We may think it would be so much better if Jesus would just explain everything to us right away. In the same way, the disciples might have wished that Jesus had explained what he meant by rising from the dead. But that’s not how he operated. Instead, he gave them seeds of hope that would take root later. He knew that the apostles had to experience his resurrection in order to truly understand it. In a similar way, there are some situations that we just have to live through before we can see, with hindsight, how Jesus was with us.

So yes, some things take time. They also take the Holy Spirit. It was the Spirit who turned the disciples’ grief into joy on Easter Sunday, and it’s the Spirit who will help us whenever we feel overwhelmed with grief (John 20:22). He will give us not only the grace to endure trials, but also the grace to believe that no matter what we are facing, there will be a resurrection. We may not see it right away; we may even question our faith at times. But Jesus remains faithful and true. He will always give us new opportunities to start again, to die to sin and rise to new life with him. It’s for us to experience!

“Holy Spirit, show me the power of Jesus’ resurrection today!”

Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-28
Psalm 148:1-2, 11-14
Matthew 17:22-27