In this past Sunday’s gospel (John 20:19-31) we heard how the disciples hid in fear behind locked doors. Their teacher had just been betrayed, judged, beaten, and killed. Could the same thing happen to them? However, in their moment of fear and uncertainty, Jesus appears before them and proclaims: “Peace be with you. As the Father had sent me, so I send you!”

We know how the story continues for the rest of Christian history. The disciples don’t let this message of the risen Jesus fizzle out. They move beyond the locked doors and proclaim the good news to every corner of the earth. They were so moved within their hearts that they openly faced a world that would reject, persecute, and ostracize them for this very message.

The Easter message we heard a week ago is the same message that these disciples proclaimed beyond their locked doors 2,000 years ago. It’s a message that is as alive today as it was then and as it was on Easter Sunday. We continue to carry on this message of resurrection even when we feel as if we locked ourselves away from the world that so desperately needs to hear of Christ’s peace. Today, we hear those familiar words: “As the Father had sent me, so I send you!” We are sent to go beyond the locked doors of our hearts and to help others in doing the same. Not for a single Easter Sunday, not for the 50 days of the Easter Season, but every day and in every place of our lives.