Fr Jim Cogley
In several resurrection accounts the disciples after the death of Jesus had locked themselves behind closed doors; a very potent symbol of what happens to us in grief where we feel locked into our own personal anguish. They must have been talking and discussing recent events and how it had affected them. Each of them had their own issues in relation to how they had performed after Christ’s arrest and execution. Almost to a man they had let him down, and only a few women and the apostle John, remained faithful to the end. Then after
several days the Risen Christ appeared among them, bringing a message of peace, apparently having walked through the doors that were tightly bolted. All these men had been plunged into deep grief not just at the loss of their leader but also for their own future that had been taken from them. In their time behind locked doors it would seem that they were processing their grief and so the one they thought they had laid in the tomb was suddenly present among them. For to experience death as continuation rather than separation we need to sit in our locked room and experience our emotions, for as long as it takes.