Go Tell the Good News!

Good News is hard to contain! Give a child a gift and the first thing they do is run and tell a friend or call Mommy and Daddy. A couple become pregnant and they find all kinds of clever ways to announce the good news to the rest of the family. A teenager passes the driving test and friends know about it almost immediately.

When joy overwhelms us it cannot be contained but bubbles over to everyone around us. This is why Good News is hard to contain --- it affects everyone we come in contact with --- and creates new relationships.

All the weeks of Lent we have been praying, fasting, and doing works of charity --- waiting to hear the Good News that is announced today - Easter! An interesting detail in this Gospel from Saint Matthew is that when the women come to the tomb, an angel tells them not to be afraid and then announces Jesus’ resurrection. The angels tell them to “tell his disciples.” Obediently, “they went away quickly from the tomb” --- good news can hardly be contained!

But on the way to the disciples another amazing thing happens: the women are met by Jesus Himself. He repeats what the angel said, “Do not be afraid” and “Go tell my disciples.” Can you just imagine Jesus’ own excitement at the good news of resurrection? God sends an angel to announce it, but Jesus can’t wait --- He meets the women Himself! Good News is hard to contain!

Saint Peter could not contain himself in our first reading saying, “We are witnesses of all that he did. . . witnesses chosen by God. . . He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God.”

We have the next 50 days in which to rejoice in the resurrection life. It’s not enough to sing “ALLELUIA!” but to announce the good news of resurrection in the manner in which we live this new life all year long.

Don’t be afraid --- to be new! Don’t be afraid to say ”Hello” to the person sitting next to you. Don’t be afraid to invite someone back you know who might have left the church. Don’t be afraid of the goodness and power of this new life we’ve been given!

The good news of the resurrection cannot be contained ---by the angel, by Jesus himself, or by the women who are to go and announce it to the disciples. Neither should we contain it! Our very lives ought to continually announce the good news of resurrection and the new life it brings!

ALLELUIA! HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Rev. Mark Zacker

Pastor