Today Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (28: 8-15) which tells what happened after the women discovered the empty tomb.

Fr Paul says this Gospel reading starts after the first message of the angel to the women, telling them to give the news of the Resurrection to the disciples. Their hasty journey is interrupted by the appearance of the Risen Lord himself.

Their worship of him reminds us that Jesus was somehow changed in some way so that in each of the Resurrection appearances the disciples are awestruck, and it also makes some hesitate or initially fail to recognise Jesus.

Just after this Gospel Jesus promises to be with us always; for the whole of Matthew’s Gospel is a guarantee of the divine presence among his People.

For our prayer today, Fr Paul invites us to reflect – God is with us always.