In Fear And Joy

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Monday in Easter Week

Today's Readings:
[ Acts 2:14, 22-32; Ps 16:1, 5-11; Mt 28:8-15 ]

Peter stands up in Acts and speaks plainly: “this Jesus… you crucified and killed… But God raised him up”. There is no softening of the truth, yet there is no despair either. The same breath that names sin proclaims resurrection. That is the rhythm of Easter.

The Gospel reading shows the women leaving the tomb “with fear and great joy”. That pairing feels deeply human. Resurrection does not erase fear, it transforms it. In a Franciscan spirit, we might say that grace does not bypass our smallness; it meets us there. Saint Francis embraced minority—littleness—as the place where God’s glory shines most clearly. The empty tomb is not a triumph of power as the world understands it, but of God’s humble, life-giving love.

Psalm 16 gives us the interior posture of Easter faith: “I keep the Lord always before me… my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices”. This is not naïve optimism. It is trust rooted in relationship. “You show me the path of life”. For Francis, all creation sings this truth—Brother Sun, Sister Moon, even Sister Death—because in Christ, nothing is outside the reach of redemption.

Meanwhile, the guards in Matthew’s Gospel are paid to spread a lie. The resurrection immediately meets resistance, distortion, and fear-driven narratives. That hasn’t changed. Yet the witness of the women—simple, faithful, and joyful—outlasts the lie. The Gospel moves forward not through control, but through testimony.

So where does this leave us on a Monday morning in Easter Week? Perhaps here: to stand, like Peter, in honest truth; to run, like the women, even with trembling; and to pray, with the psalmist, in quiet trust.

In Franciscan fashion, we don’t need to grasp at certainty or power. We need only to stay close—to Christ, to one another, and to the goodness of creation—and let resurrection life take root in our ordinary steps.

Today, keep the Lord before you. Let fear and joy walk together. And trust that even in small, hidden ways, God is raising life where we least expect it. 

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