We may be fearful, but we are also overjoyed!

There is much to fear in this world of ours. War between and within countries and violence in our streets and in our homes. Lost jobs, economic downturns, regular folks struggling to give their families a good life. Poverty, disease, the list could go on and on, and those are just the big ones. We all have our own "little fears," anxieties, worries that keep us up at night.

In the reading from the Gospel of Matthew read at tonight's Easter Vigil, we hear the story of Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, finding the tomb empty. An angel tells them not to be afraid, that Jesus has been raised.

Come and see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly and tell his disciples,
‘He has been raised from the dead,
and he is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see him.’
Behold, I have told you.”
Then they went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce this to his disciples.

This Scripture passage has been very meaningful to me over the years. Fearful yet overjoyed covers so beautifully the butterflies in my stomach feeling I have felt on various stages of my vocation journey. Fearful, because, well, I'm me. Overjoyed because, well, I'm responding to the God who loves me by opening my own heart in service of God and God's people.

Tonight at the Easter Vigil we hear this reading again. As the Church, united across the globe, we recognize the reality of evil, and yet we choose Christ. We recognize our own vulnerability and fear, yet we joyfully proclaim that He is Risen!