Easter Monday
Acts 2:14,22-33
Mt 28:8-15
“You have made known the way of life to me, you will fill me with gladness through your presence.”
I recently watched a show, The House of Dancing Water, in Macao. The story follows a male protagonist drawn into a strange and shifting world, where a princess is held captive under the power of a dark queen. He is pulled into rescuing her, but nothing in that world is stable — scenes collapse, danger emerges without warning, and control slips from his grasp. There are moments where he is in trouble. Moments where he cannot move forward on his own.
And in those moments, a guide appears. Not once, but again and again. He arrives in a small boat, steady and unhurried. He comes when the male protagonist needs help — not to complete the task for him, but to make it possible for him to continue.
What stands out is this: the guide does not resolve the story in a single act. He does not rescue the princess in place of the male protagonist. He is a presence that returns within the struggle. The world remains uncertain. The task remains for the male protagonist to complete. But the male protagonist is never left to face it alone.
That stayed with me. I realise that many times I turn to God, I am not simply seeking his presence. I am looking for something that resolves everything at once — a clear answer, a turning point, the removal of the difficulty. In other words, I am looking for a solution.
What both the show and today’s readings point to is something else: not a solution that ends life’s struggles, but a presence that remains within it. I further realise that my desire for solutions is not simply about wanting clarity. It is driven by something deeper — the fear that if things remain unresolved, I will be left alone to face them. What I am really asking of God is the assurance that I will not be abandoned within the struggle.
It is this assurance that the first reading speaks of. Peter draws on David’s words: “You have made known the way of life to me, you will fill me with gladness through your presence.” Gladness does not come from everything being resolved. It comes from knowing that we are not abandoned — that God remains with us and leads us forward.
The Gospel passage makes this concrete. Filled with awe and great joy, the women leave the tomb and run to tell the disciples. And as they go, Jesus comes to meet them. He greets them. He receives their worship. And then He speaks: “Do not be afraid.” He sends them on to tell His brothers to go to Galilee, where they will see Him. The pattern is clear — the risen Christ is not absent after the Resurrection. He comes to meet His own, and His presence accompanies their path ahead.
The Gospel then places the women’s encounter with the risen Christ alongside a very different response to the same reality. The guards report what has happened. A meeting is held. Money is given. A story is agreed upon. The Resurrection is reduced to a past event that can be explained away and set aside.
But the risen Christ cannot be reduced to an event. He meets. He speaks. He sends. His living presence resists containment.
And that is what Easter establishes. Not simply that something has happened, but that someone is present. The Resurrection does not end every struggle. It ensures we do not face them alone. Gladness begins here — not in the resolution of every difficulty, but in the abiding presence of the risen Lord.
As Easter people, let us move through life knowing we are accompanied by the Lord. And in His presence, let us be glad!
(Today’s OXYGEN by Stacey Fernandez)
Prayer: Lord, help me to trust Your presence. Teach me to walk with You and to be glad in You.
Thanksgiving: Thank You for remaining with me and coming to meet me wherever I am on life’s journey.
OXYGEN 
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