Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Fear does not define us!


As I sit in my office on a rainy marathon Monday reflecting on the readings of Holy Week and Easter, my mind keeps wandering to the last time I was in Boston for the Marathon, April 15, 2013 and all the similarities between how many people felt that day and how the Apostles must have felt when Jesus was killed. 

I was there with a group of friends when tragedy struck.  We were overcome with emotions – fear, sadness, anger.  We ran to the closest apartment and locked ourselves inside, afraid for what might happen next.  We cried, we comforted each other, we reached out to love ones to see if they were ok or to let them know that we were ok.  We were glued to the television as reporters and authorities tried to make sense of what had happened.  We didn’t move for hours.  Time felt like it was both racing and standing still at the same time.  In some ways those hours felt like days as we waited to hear back from loved ones, but it also felt like minutes as we prayed for those who died and were fearful of what was next. 

Today I realized how similar those feelings and reactions were to how the Apostles felt.  Their Lord, the man they had been following for the last 3 years was just arrested, flogged and killed.  The Apostles were afraid and ran to the upper room and locked themselves inside, fearful of what might happen next.  Were they in danger too?  Were they about to suffer and die? I can only imagine the conversations in the room had to be similar to the conversations my friends and I had that day.  How could this happen?  Who would do such a thing?  Why would God let this happen?  Are we safe?  The time the Apostles spent in the upper room had to feel like an eternity. 

The amazing thing about both stories is that neither one ends with people being locked away in a room, paralyzed by fear, defeated by evil, conquered by death.  Both stories have a triumphant ending.  Christ conquered sin and death through his Resurrection on Easter Sunday.  Good had conquered evil.  Sin and death could not defeat God.  We are stronger because of it.  The Apostles are stronger because of it.  The Church is stronger because of it.  Through the Resurrection, the Apostles had the strength to go out and face evil and sin head on and spread the message of Jesus Christ and build His Church.

The people of Boston also grew stronger in the face of the evil and tragedy that happened 6 years ago.  Boston came together as a town and as a people and said we will not give into fear and death.  We will carry on.  We will be better.  We will be stronger.  In the face of fear and evil, the following year, the marathon grew in number of runners and fans.  Many athletes who were injured in the bombing came back and competed, some even in wheelchairs or with prosthetic limbs.  Sin and death could not defeat Christ and it could not defeat the city of Boston.

I am a Midwestern boy, through and through, but in the aftermath of that tragic day, I was proud to consider myself (even if only temporarily) a Bostonian.   Tragedy has a way of bringing people together.  It brought the Apostles and the early Church together and it brought the people of Boston together.

No matter what you are going through in life right now, no matter how dark or low it may be, take strength in knowing that through the Cross, Jesus conquered sin and death forever.  There is light at the end of the tunnel and you will be stronger in the end.

I pray that you and your families have a very Blessed Holy Week and a Happy Easter!

Christ is Risen! Christ is Truly Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia!

Reflection by Matthew Bensman



No comments:

Post a Comment

Jesus' Temptation

In this week’s Gospel, we see Jesus, soon after being baptized by John the Baptist, being led into the desert by the Holy Spirit to fast, p...