Which Door Is He Coming Through?

Happy Easter! I decided to take Holy Week off from writing the blog because the Holy Days speak for themselves. I was able to ponder and sit with the magnitude of the sacrifice from the agony of being betrayed, to the intimate expression of love as Jesus washed his disciple’s feet, to his arrest and trial, torture and humiliation, pain and abuse, his accepting punishment on my behalf so that I can live in freedom knowing how much I am loved, and of course of course of course, RESURRECTION! I find that I have softened my awe in regards to the resurrection as I’ve gotten older because it’s just something I know happened and it has become so ordinary, but friends, this is a remarkable and outrageous event! Jesus was dead in a tomb and came back to life. When my brother was probably five-years-old, we were at Easter Mass overflow in our parish hall, and he asked my dad if this was the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Dad said yes. He waited a beat or two and then asked dad, “Which door is he going to come through so I don’t miss him?” And this is the kind of faith I’d like to rekindle during this Easter season. 

Expectation has become a huge theme in my spiritual life lately and I find that when I expect God to show up, when I expect breakthrough, when I expect healing, when I expect love to win, and when I expect the Holy Spirit to rest on me, I am never disappointed. God shows up because he never leaves, but my expectation gives me the eyes to find Him. Breakthrough happens because my expectation unlocks the door that only I have the keys to. Healing comes because my expectation provides a mindset that allows wellness to enter in. Love never fails, but when I don’t expect it to win, I cheat myself of experiencing the victory. There is an open heaven above me at all times where the Holy Spirit rests, however, when I don’t think I am worthy or chosen for that open heaven, I close my mind to its gift. Expectation helps us to see, unlocks the door, allows for wellness, gives us victory, and opens gifts. I know in this world, we try to minimize expectation to keep our disappointment levels low as well, but in the language of eternity, let’s set those expectations higher and higher. This is what Easter shows us: we can expect the remarkable, the outrageous, and the incredible. Jesus lives! If my dad were to show up here one day after being dead for three years, you better believe I’d pay attention. Jesus was brutally tortured, and executed, and walked out of his grave to interact with his loved ones! What any of us who have lost a beloved to death would give for this to happen to us, and it happened for real! Let’s get our expectations up and let’s get back our awe at the outrageousness of the resurrection. This Easter season I am going to look for Him, unlock whatever doors are still closed to Him, change my mindset to expect healing, remember that love has already won, and invite the Holy Spirit to rest on me. These high expectations will show me which door he’s coming through so I don’t miss him. It is well with my soul.

Reading 1 ACTS 2:14, 22-33

On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.

“You who are children of Israel, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:

I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope, 
because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.

My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he poured forth the promise of the Holy Spirit
that he received from the Father, as you both see and hear.”

Responsorial Psalm PS 16:1-2A AND 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

R. (1) Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Alleluia PS 118:24

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 28:8-15

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce the news to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee,
and there they will see me.”

While they were going, some of the guard went into the city
and told the chief priests all that had happened.
The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel;
then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
telling them, “You are to say,
‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’
And if this gets to the ears of the governor,
we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.
And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.