It doesn’t matter which gospel I read today.  The stone is always mentioned as an obstacle to the tomb.  How will I encounter the resurrection of Christ unless the stone is rolled away?

            I first encountered the stone as obstacle while reading The Road to Daybreak by Henri Nouwen.  He tells one story of an intimate Easter Day Eucharist when one participant raised the issue:  “We have to keep rolling away the large stones that prevent people from coming out of their graves.”  I meditated on what it meant for me to come out of my grave and become new again.  How is the stone rolled away for me so I can discover my own resurrections?  How do I assist others in rolling away the stones that block discovery of their resurrections?

            As I write this, my country is at war.  I am not satisfied with our response.  Surely a peaceful solution is the resurrection hiding behind a huge stone.  I desperately want to find a way to roll this stone away because I believe the resurrection of Jesus calls us to a peaceful solution.  Like the women going to the tomb, I pray for the removal of this stone.

            Our smaller, daily resurrections are not always recognizable.  Just as the forty days of Lent give me time to do my interior work of connecting with the Creator, so also the great fifty days of Easter give me time to externalize this work by proclaiming the miracle of Christ’s resurrection, which is also my own resurrection.  Finding different and creative ways to roll away the stone is the manifestation of the Creator in me discovering my daily resurrections.  I am made new by Christ’s resurrection.

            Seek ways to roll away the stone to proclaim the peace of Christ’s resurrection.

Alleluia, Alleluia!
Christ is risen!  Christ is risen in me!  Christ is risen in the world! 
Alleluia, Alleluia!