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Gracious God, at daybreak on Easter morning, your angels met the women when they came to the tomb. This was no early stroll on a lovely spring day. There were no Easter bonnets or egg hunts, no family feasts to mark the day. They came to a grave, their spirits traumatized. They came to make sense of the violence, the pain and their powerlessness under Roman occupation. They to practice the rituals of death. They came in deep, deep grief.

Like the women so long ago, we too approach the tombs of our dead this Easter. We also try to make sense of emotional violence, entitlement, terror. If we dare to look death in the face, it is very close. And we grieve other losses.

Might we need to meet your angels at the tomb, God? Dear God, speak to us again of Easter’s promise: “He is risen. He is risen indeed!” Now we are the ones peering into Jesus’ tomb, finding it empty. The promise is revealed: Death does not have the last word. We grieve, yes. We must. Our losses are real and will not be recovered. But in Jesus’ rising, death was not the last word. Not for the women at the tomb. Not for us.

This message is excerpted from “Your grief is welcome here.” by Catherine Malotky in the April 2021 Gather magazine. Today is Easter Sunday.