Easter Sunday

WALK TOGETHER

THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE; LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD

Dear Lord, at the darkest moments it is easy to lose hope and become overwhelmed. But you never abandon us, even in death. Your love always breaks through, just like it did on that Easter morning so long ago. Give us the courage to walk together to discover the new life that awaits us.

Share a story of when being part of a group
helped you read a situation differently and
become more hopeful.

Missioners listen, dialogue and discern together in the worldwide synodal process.

The African proverb, “If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk together, ” encapsulates Pope Francis’s call for collective journeying in the Synod 2021-2024. This three-year process actively involves global Catholics, emphasizing inclusivity. Regional listening sessions occurred, leading to continental discernment and synod meetings in Rome in October 2023 and 2024. Pope Francis stresses the crucial role of the entire People of God in the Church’s mission.

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she 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 don’t 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. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
– Jn 20:1-9

The relationship between Mary Magdalen, Peter, and the other disciple teaches us what it means to walk together as missionary disciples. On that dark Sunday morning, in confronting the disturbance of Jesus’ death, they were not concerned with who saw what first, or who reached the tomb first. Rather, they leaned on each other. They read signs of hope in the stone that had been rolled away, and the neatly folded burial cloths, and they believed. We too must learn to look beyond the distress we see and work together to find signs of hope.

What are the fears or barriers that the Spirit is
inviting you and your community to put aside in
order to walk together in hope?

Walking with others requires being inclusive. Inclusivity means inviting people into our circles who may think, look, and act differently. Take inventory of how diverse your community is and then reach out to someone outside your usual circle for a meal and fellowship.

Loving God, send us forth as a community renewed by the resurrection to be hope and joy
to the world around us.