Resurrection as “verb”
Thursday | May 3, 2018 | 19:29 PM
Resurrection as “verb”
The prolific and insighƞul theologian, peace activist and storyteller Megan McKenna writes
that resurrecƟon is more than just a miraculous act in the life of Jesus. Resurrection can
become a spiritual practicee. In her book Not CounƟng Women and Children: Neglected
Stories from the Bible, McKenna recalls leading a parish mission on the story in Luke’s
Gospel of Jesus’ raising the widow’s son from dead in the village of Nain:
“Someone called out harshly, ‘Have you ever brought someone back from the dead?’
I had been saying that life happens when we are interrupted, and that some of the most
powerful acts of resurrection happen to the least likely people; that we are the people of
resurrection and hope, called to live passionately and compassionately with others, to defy
death, to forgive, and to bring others back into the community, to do something that is life-
giving, that fights death and needless suffering. And then this challenge from the back of
the church.
“My response was ‘Yes.’ I went on to say, ‘Every time I bring hope into a situation, every
time, I bring joy that shatters despair, every time I forgive others and give them back dignity
and the possibility of a future with me and others in the community, every time I confront
injustice - yes– I bring people back from the dead.”
The power of resurrection: that the good that exists in something - or someone - given up
for dead and consigned to the abyss can be brought to life and endure. What God has done
in raising his Son to life, we can do in seeking to imitate his Son’s Gospel of love,
reconciliation, compassion, and peace. As the Risen Jesus appears to the Eleven “as flesh
and bone, “ Jesus calls us to be “as flesh and bone” of his compassion and peace for every
soul.
We reach out especially to the rejected, the depressed and the hopeless. Bring the
Resurrection and hope of Jesus to everyone we meet.
-Rev. Msgr. Philip A. Behan
