Monday in the Octave of Easter

Lectionary: 261

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.”

"And?" 

I don't know which rom-com or sitcom introduced that one syllabic word as a comedic question but I would like to ask Matthew the Evangelist, "And? And then what happened?" or "And then, don't just disappear again but tell us what's going on!" 

"The brothers will see you in Galilee. Where? I mean, when? I mean, hold on a sec and let me catch up here! I mean...; I mean.... I don't understand!"

And then... [Matthew says,] "The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted." 

Doubt, I guess, is a word for the confusion, anxiety, and distress of the disciples in those earliest days of the Church. There is precious little explanation in Saint Matthew's resurrection accounts to make sense of whatever happened on that Passover weekend. But there are many Old Testament citations and many words of Jesus which must be read, studied in their historical and literary contexts, pondered, and given time to saturate our minds and hearts until this new reality breaks into our minds and hearts and we begin to live in the Kingdom revealed to us alone. 

As Saint Luke tells the story in his Acts of the Apostles, by Pentecost and with the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, the disciples understood enough of what had happened to find their place in the biggest picture, in Salvation History. They knew what they had to do and were absolutely confident of their message and its meaning. 

Twenty centuries later we must ask the question, "And?" and wait for an explanation that will place us within God's plan of salvation for us, our families, friends, enemies, and the Earth -- and this 21st century. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same! may be true, but the modern world, and those who live in it, sense a serious disconnect from the past with its assured grasp of truth. We wonder if truth, like everything else, has changed. 

Some disciples doubted, as Saint Matthew says, but nonetheless appeared at the appointed place and time in Galilee. They were ready to be instructed and given the "Great Commission." In this new age of future shock, we too are ready to be reassured, redirected, and commissioned to announce the Gospel to all nations.