Recognizing Easter Through April Fools

This year Easter falls on April Fools day. We could make a joke of this and talk about those who have been fooled into believing terrible things in Christs name, I choose instead to contemplate a different mystery of the Eastertide: recognizing the divine right before our eyes.

Mary Magdeline, the last person to stay with Jesus at his death, was also the first to encounter him after his resurrection. Yet, she did not recognize him immediately and mistook him for a gardner. It was only when he called “Maria…” that she answered “Rabboni Rabboni! My beloved Lord!”.

When the Apostles were fishing, and the resurrected Jesus stood on the shore, they didn’t recognize him either. He asked them if they had any fish, and they still did’t recognize him. It was only after Jesus instructed them where to cast their net that Peter recognized Jesus.

On the road to Emmaus two apostles heard Jesus actually explain the necessity of his own suffering and still didn’t recognize him. Jesus blessed the bread as he did at the last supper and it was only then, after they tasted it, that they recognized him. At that moment he disappeared.  You can almost imagine them slapping themselves on the forehead as they said “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road?”.  D’oh!

April Fools!

Mary only needed to hear the voice of the divine to recognize divinity.
Peter needed to actually have Jesus perform a service in order to get it.
The two disciples on the road needed to taste the blessed bread to get the joke.

What do you need to see the divine right in front of you?
What do you need to see the divine within yourself?
What do you need to see the divine incarnated in the hard-edged world you navigate every day?

Maybe you need something from a priest or an angel or an initiator or an esoteric secret or a gnostic word.

Or maybe you just need to be silent and see what is already there.