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      That first Easter morning was not one of joy and Alleluias!  It was one of confusion and concern!  Mary Magdalen rushes in with news of an empty tomb.  Peter and John run to the tomb and find it empty.  Disillusioned disciples walk the road to Emmaus with their dreams in ruins.  What the Gospel of John says about Peter and John is equally true of the disciples on the road to Emmaus:  "They did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead."  It took awhile before Jesus' resurrection sank in!  He appeared to them and still they could not quite understand.  Thomas had to be convinced!  The Gospel of Matthew tells us that in the final meeting in Galilee, "They  worshiped but they also doubted."

     We can sing "Alleluia!" because these first witnesses of Jesus' resurrection did not give up on the reality and began to see how it was part of God's plan of deliverance.  They had to understand that it was "in accordance with the scriptures" as we profess in the Nicene Creed every Sunday.  They had to recognize him in the breaking of the bread, as we do at every celebration of the Eucharist.  But can we say, as those disciples said, that our hearts are burning with this great news!  Can we take St. Paul's advice and start all over with the "unleavened bread of sincerity and truth?"  Can we find Easter freshness and proclaim the Good News:  CHRIST IS RISEN!  ALLELUIA! and not just "Happy Easter?"  Like those first witnesses, we must "pass it on," and share it gladly!  ALLELUIA! AMEN.