Monday within the
Octave of Easter
(Acts 2:14.22-33; Matthew 28:8-15)
In today’s gospel the Jewish authorities instruct the soldiers to lie about what
had taken place the day of Jesus’ resurrection.
Moreover, it indicates that all
the Jews believed the fabrication. Scholars
do not doubt that this report exaggerates the cover-up. It is part of the often vindictive debate
that was taking place between Christians and Jews when the gospel was being
written.
Matthew begins his gospel with the story of how King Herod
the Great tried to squash the coming of Christ to the world. The king, frustrated by the Magi’s not
returning to Jerusalem, orders all infant boys of the region killed. Now at the end of the gospel the Jewish
leaders try to stop news of the resurrection from spreading to the people. God will frustrate them as well with Jesus’
appearances to the apostles and their proclamation to the world.
We live in a time of similar religious rivalry. Muslims on one side and Christians and Jews on
the other are wary of one another. As
Pope Francis demonstrated when he washed the feet of three Muslims on Holy Thursday,
we must not allow this antipathy to spread.
We should never attribute to all Muslims the evil perpetrated by Muslim
extremists. We need to promote positive
relations with Muslims because we are followers of Christ who died to show God’s
love for all.
