Worshipful fear and joy

Matthew 28 : 8 - 15

..they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him

The women disciples really amaze me because of the way they respond. They have been told that their Lord has risen. They are so filled with joy and yet this joy is tinged with a 'fear' (I believe an awed sense of the unexpected). They had been prepared earlier (many times!) by Jesus about his death and resurrection, but when it really came to be........it was still a moment of awe and wonder....a joy that was too good to be true.

I have read and believe that the Risen Christ was somehow the same and yet in many ways different too. Each time he met his disciples, they were joyful and yet were filled with an awed wonder. Somehow there was something wonderfully different about Jesus in his resurrected state. And these women top it off - they actually took hold of his feet and worshipped!!! This to me is embodied prayer, most tender and reverent. This is the way I wish we would express ourselves more often. Our spirituality is sometimes too controlled and polite, lacking deep passion that expresses itself through actions. Yes, our 'actions' can be by way of reaching out to people in need and yet there is a place for simply worshipping our Lord. It is never a waste of time to be with our Risen Lord, in intimate, reverent friendship.

Such encounters then and today are of course 'graces' or 'gifts' of our Lord - not something we can manufacture ourselves. But still, it is worth every effort to give ourselves the opportunities where he can catch our attention and 'meet us'. Times of silence and solitude to balance the many distractions of our days. And even in times of corporate worship, there is a place for seeking prayerful communion with the Risen Lord. "You will seek me and find me when you seek for me with all your heart. I will be found by you". This season of Easter joy...the fifty days that look to Pentecost is a good time to ask the Lord for his joyful graces.