By Fr. Justin Fulton
There is a wonderful lesson to be learned in John’s account of the Resurrection in Chapter 20 of his Gospel. We read this Gospel account at Easter Sunday morning Mass. Do you notice who the first person is to believe that Christ is Risen from the dead?
There are three characters in that Gospel account: Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John the Beloved Disciple. Mary Magdalene finds the empty tomb. She tells Peter and John. They race to the tomb. John, presumably younger and perhaps in better shape than Peter, gets there first. He lets Peter, the leader and first pope, head into the tomb first. Peter looks around and surveys the burial cloths. And then John goes into the tomb... and he sees and believes (John 20:8).
The first person to believe in the Resurrection is a young kid. Not the leader of the Church. Not the one who has received so much mercy from the Lord, but a young teenager. Many Biblical scholars project John’s age in his young teenage years at the Resurrection. Perhaps it is a reminder for all of us that we must become like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 18). We all could use and need the faith of a child!
Permit me to share a story with you about a 5-year old child, a saint-in-the-making named Jacqueline. On a recent socially-distant visit with her parents, little Jacqueline asked Father Fulton to plug his ears. Obedient to the will of Jacqueline, I did so. She then proceeded to tell her parents that she wanted to give something to God and give it to Father Fulton, to give to God. Her parents gave her the OK.
About 15 seconds later, Jacqueline, with a grin as wide as an open Nebraska prairie, came back with a shiny quarter and told Father Fulton this was a gift to God. Her grin was then transferred to my grin and I simply smiled, speechless, at a child with a heart for others and for God.
I told her that Jesus could be found in the poor and that this quarter would go directly to help Him during this time of trial in the world.
Jacqueline’s act and her faith were a beautiful testament to her parents who share their faith with her daily. From the contribution of a widow’s mite to the contribution of a 5-year old child, the Resurrected Jesus is alive in His people.
I want to thank Jacqueline for already being a leader in her Church and in this world. I thank her, and her parents, for their faith in Christ.
Thank you, Jacqueline, for living greatly and for your love of God and His people! May you share that grin with a world that needs it!
May we all pray for childlike faith not only during this crisis... but indeed, every day of our lives.
Jesus, we trust and live in you! Jesus, please continue to trust and live in us!
May God bless us always.
