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Celebrating Everyday Spirituality

Sunflower Seeds

Celebrating Everyday Spirituality

A Few Details about the Easter Story


Today I’d like to share with you a few thoughts about the Resurrection of Jesus, one of the greatest mysteries of our faith. These thoughts are gleaned from the Gospel accounts of that very first Easter. The first thing that strikes me about the Easter story is how shocked the disciples were on that Easter morning. When Peter and John enter the empty tomb, they are stunned. It seems as if Jesus’ rising from the dead was not something they—his closest friends—expected. Ironically, Jesus’ enemies thought he had predicted rising after three days. They were the ones who asked Pilate to put guards by the tomb so Jesus’ disciples didn’t try to steal his body.



Jesus’ empty tomb that morning also filled the early followers of Jesus with great fear. In Mark’s gospel, the women who come to anoint his corpse, are so terrified by their experience of the empty tomb and the angels, they run madly away. Peter and John are also so afraid, they high tail it back to the other disciples and huddle together with them behind locked doors.

(Photo by Pixabay)


What moves Jesus’ followers beyond shock, fear, and disbelief? Bishop Thomas Gumbleton says it was one thing: their encounters with the risen Jesus. He writes, “What brought resurrection faith were the in-the-flesh appearances of the resurrected Jesus.” He goes on: “Slowly, gently, through these appearances, Christ built up their faith until they no longer needed these appearances.” We too are built up in the faith through the appearances of Christ in the flesh. Where does the resurrected Christ have flesh in our world? Says Gumbleton: in people who make our hearts “burn within us.” Who might such people be? Here are some on my short list:

+ those who remind us that there’s so much more to life than what can be seen with our human eyes only…

+ those who show us that happiness consists essentially in loving and serving others…

+ those who remind us that bitterness leads only to death, while forgiveness leads to life

+ those who show us that pain and tears can be redemptive

+ those who remind us that cynicism is a form of despair

+ those who love us despite our failings and shortcomings

+ those who lead us to believe that God is alive and active in our world

+ those who remind us that, in the end, the only thing that really matters is that we love

+ those who, despite their struggles and trials, hang on to their sense of humor

(Photo by Jayce Q – Pexels)


Another detail that is seen in the Easter story is this: The disciples didn’t recognize the risen Jesus. Mary Magdala, who knew him so well, mistook him for the gardener. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus, took him for a stranger. Only in the breaking of the bread did they realize he was Jesus. Later, on the shore, most of his disciples also didn’t recognize Jesus and assumed he was a cook. What lesson here? The Risen Jesus in the flesh can look quite ordinary. He could be the woman who slices your cheese at the deli… the man who gives you a break in traffic… your daughter’s third grade teacher… your kind and competent hair stylist… the meteorologist on the local evening news… the person who gives your car an oil change… the priest mingling with people after Mass… the police officer on night patrol in your town… Maybe to detect the risen Jesus among us, we have to look more closely at the faces of the people we meet every day—and appreciate their simple goodness.



I find great consolation in these details. First, the first Easter reminds us that our God is a God of surprises. We do not control our lives—let alone control our God. On the contrary, much of our life is “given to us.” As some have said: “Life is what happens to us while we’re making other plans.” In the Easter story we also see that fear is not an emotion to be ashamed of. It is often a perfectly human response to danger or bewilderment. Easter shows us that God can come to us no matter what we may be feeling—even shock, fear, confusion, shame, despair. No human emotion can prevent God’s love from breaking into our lives.



And so I want to wish all of you:

With much love and many prayers, Melannie



For reflection:

Is there anything in this reflection that struck you?

Is there anything else in the story of the first Easter that you find particularly meaningful, memorable, or intriguing? If so, would you want to share it with us?




Here’s a gentle but beautiful Easter song written by Sarah Hart, Sarah Kroger, Josh Blakenley, and Trey Heffinger. It’s called “Hallelujah Is Our Song” and is sung here by Sarah Hart. My favorite line is: “What hope we have, even in the longest night, for the light will overcome.”




I welcome your comments or other Easter thoughts below.




8 Responses

  1. Happy Easter, Sr. Melannie!

    Your blog is both delightful and insightful. It makes us look outward and inward at the same time. I’ve recently had the great experience of living an Easter Triduum retreat at Our Lady of Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham, Massachusetts. Altogether there were nine retreatants. We checked in Thursday afternoon and checked out noon time yesterday. It was a perfect balance of communal prayer, private prayer, and simple leisure (reading, writing, walking, napping, etc.).

    Obviously, the retreat was all about the Paschal Mystery, but to your point, while we were learning about the Jesus of the gospel, we were slowly learning about the Jesus we broke bread with each day, had coffee with in the morning. While not a requirement of the retreat, we all made an effort to sit with different people during lunch and dinner. It was during those times we experienced a “retreat within a retreat.” We told stories, stories, and more stories! We laughed but at other times listened intently when a retreatant’s story took a serious turn.

    We got to know each in the breaking of the bread (which was delicious, by the way!), the telling of the story, the smile, the greeting. It was all so, so beautiful!

    1. Dear John, Your retreat experience at the Abbey in Hingham sounds wonderful! I appreciated the balance as you described it. And to deliberately sit with different people during lunch and dinner–what a beautiful thing to do. I’m sure that was very enriching. Thank you for sharing your experience with us! Melannie

  2. What some beautiful insights to carry Easter into our week and our daily lives. Mindfulness is always a goal – not getting too caught up in our plans and being present to those around us. May our eyes be open to Christ among us and those grace-filled moments placed before us by our God of surprises.
    Thank you for a beautiful reflection Sr.M (and John too). A bright spot in my Monday for sure!

    1. Thank you, Amy, for your beautiful response. I agree: “Mindfulness is always a goal.” And “may our eyes be open to Christ among us.” These certainly are words to live by. It’s good hearing from you, Amy! Thanks again! Melannie

  3. A great Easter Monday reflection!!! I could only imagine how stunned, shocked and afraid they were. I know if it was me, I probably would have fainted right then and there and all the spices I was carrying would have flown out of my hands! It is important to glean as much as we can out of these sentences because there is so much humanness, if you will, within these verses. I know I miss a lot and that is why I thank all of you for your deep insight. Looking forward to so much more!

    Happy Easter Season Family!!

    1. Nancy, Thank you for the honesty of your response… Yes, it is important “to glean as much as we can” from these post-resurrection stories. They are filled with “humanness” and encouragement for our own faith journey. Thank you for reminding us of this! Melannie

  4. Sr. Melannie,
    Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us and for the beautiful song! 2 things that I notice in the gospel accounts of that first Easter- first, the slight differences in the accounts between the gospels show the amount of confusion that must have happened. Second, even though none of the gospels say where Jesus’s mother Mary was, I choose to believe that some communication occurred between our Lord and His mother. Her heart was pierced when His was, and I choose to believe that she knew when Jesus’s heart began to beat again.
    May the joy Mary felt at His resurrection be shared by us all!

    1. Dear Vicki, Yes, the resurrection accounts do show some slight differences… And you raise an important questions about Mary, Jesus’ mother. Your final sentence is beautiful. “I choose to believe that she knew when Jesus’ heart began to beat again.” Thank you for your response! Melannie

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Meet Sr. Melannie

Hi and welcome to my blog! I’m Sister Melannie, a Sister of Notre Dame residing in Chardon, Ohio, USA. I’ve been very lucky! I was raised in a loving family on a small farm in northeast Ohio. I also entered the SNDs right after high school. Over the years, my ministries have included high school and college teaching, novice director, congregational leadership, spiritual direction, retreat facilitating, and writing. I hope you enjoy “Sunflower Seeds” and will consider subscribing below. I’d love to have you in our “sunflower community.” Thank you!

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