Today's Gospel

Follow the Leader

Welcome back to "Radical and Relevant." And it doesn't get more radical than this. This is the day of the resurrection. It's a happy Easter. God bless you and all those you love. Today's reading is almost exactly the same as yesterday's reading. Today we're reading from the Gospel of John. Yesterday, we read from the Gospel of Luke. It's a telling of the same situation, the same circumstances. And so I think it does help to have our exercise of looking for a word or phrase or an idea. Otherwise, it really can just seem familiar and it can just flow by us. So let's open our hearts, our minds, our spirits. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to a word, a phrase, or an idea, this Easter, that he wants to speak to us through in a special way.

On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Peter then came out with the other disciples, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying on the floor and the napkins, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloth, but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw, and he believed. For as yet, they did not know the Scripture that he must rise from the dead.

What is it that the Holy Spirit draws your attention to today? For me, it's this idea that John arrives at the tomb first, but he doesn't go in. And the author draws attention to this twice. Author draws attention to this twice. And I just think it's brilliant and it's insightful. And of course, Peter become the first pope, right? And so there's a deference here. There's a respect here. Even though John gets there first, he doesn't go in. And we read this twice in the reading. And so when it's there twice, it's right, okay, someone's trying to emphasize something here. So they ran towards the tomb. The disciple whom Jesus loved arrived at tomb first, but he did not go in. That's the first. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter, reached the tomb first, stooping, looked in, saw the linens, but did not go in. That's the first mention.

The second mention is, okay, there's the cloths and the tip. And then it says, then the other disciple, after Peter goes in, then the other disciple who reached the tomb first also went in and he saw unbelief." So there is something here for us, right? There's a respect. And it's a beautiful thing between John and Peter here at the earliest time of the church, at the earliest time of the church. And what lesson is there there for us today? It is difficult to follow. We have a lot of talk in our culture about leadership. We have a lot of talk about everyone's a leader. You're a leader at home. You're a leader when you're a soccer coach. You're a leader at work. You're a leader with your example. You're a leader with your influence. All this talk of leadership. But I really believe that the essence of being a great leader is found by learning to be a great follower. When I look at the people, the great leaders that I have known and the great leaders I read about in history. I find people who first were great followers and great followers of Jesus. And so how are we following Jesus? How are we being obedient to Jesus, to what He's calling us to? And where are we resisting it? Where are we turning our back on it? Where are we rejecting it? And more important than that, why? Why are we resisting it? Why are we turning our back on it? Why are we rejecting it? Because what people do is interesting. What people say is interesting. But why people do what they do and say what they say? Well, that's fascinating. And if we want to understand ourselves, observe ourselves spiritually, really understand what is driving us, we have to get to that why. Very often we can be obsessed on what our actions are. And sometimes the only way to overcome negative patterns in our lives is not with the strength of willpower to say, "I'm not going to do that anymore," but rather by going into that and saying, "Okay, why do I do that? How is that serving me? What do I think that's going to do for me? And does it actually deliver on the promise that it makes? Not just what we do, not just what we say, but why we do it and say it. And that awareness, that deep spiritual observation, that is spiritual intelligence, and that is where God wants to lead us. Today, more than any other day, he wants to lead us to a deep, profound, beautiful spirituality. Have a great day. Happy Easter. Be Bold. Be Catholic. And we'll see you tomorrow.