When they encountered Jesus’ empty tomb, the women who came there felt terror and amazement and ran away. Eventually, though, they told others of Jesus rising from the dead. At the end of the Gospel of Mark, we are faced with the same question they faced: how will we respond to the Good News of Jesus?
Jesus invites us to follow him. And while it’s simple, it’s not easy. To follow Jesus is to find ourselves face to face with the needs of the world and the evils of the world. Yet he also not only promises that he’ll always be with us, but that he’ll send us with companions on the journey as well.
The downsides of social media are never far away. . . our teens are constantly confronted with images of people who somehow seem prettier, richer, more fashionable, and more popular. Social media takes the normal anxieties of teenage life and hypercharges them.
When someone does something wrong, we want them to get what they deserve. But when we’re the ones who do wrong, we want mercy! Thankfully, Jesus shows us a God who does not give us what we deserve but offers us grace, no matter how little we seem to deserve it.