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
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