Will You Notice? + an Easter Gospel Reflection
Choosing presence in the holiest days of the year, followed by Easter Sunday’s Gospel reflection and discussion questions
Note From Me: Will You Notice?
Holy Week arrives somberly, almost like a question. Will you notice?
These are not ordinary days. They carry the weight of love poured out, of suffering embraced, of a silence that is anything but empty. The Church slows us down on purpose, inviting us to walk, step by step, toward the Cross.
But we can miss it, if we are not careful. We can let these sacred days slip past us, crowded out by noise, busyness, and the ordinary demands of life.
So this week, begin here, gently:
What one small thing will you choose to set this week apart?
A longer pause in prayer.
A sacrifice no one else will see.
A moment of silence where you resist the urge to fill the space.
A decision to show up, to really show up, for the liturgies that tell this story again.
Don’t choose everything. Just something.
Because love is not proven in grand gestures, but in quiet presence.
And this week, more than any other, is an invitation to stay close.
With grace,
The Gospel reflection and discussion questions you’ll find below are open to everyone this week, as a sample of the kind of content paid subscribers receive regularly. My hope is that it supports your prayer, wherever you are this Holy Week and Easter.
Sunday Gospel Reflection: He Saw and Believed
Gospel for Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026
John 20:1-9
There’s something striking about the way this Gospel unfolds: it begins in darkness, in confusion, in uncertainty.
Peter and John run to the tomb, breathless, urgent. They see the details, the cloths, the emptiness, the strange order of it all. And then comes that simple, powerful line: “He saw and believed.”
But here’s the part that might feel very familiar to us: they still did not understand.
Belief can come before full understanding. That’s Easter faith.
It’s easy to think faith should feel like certainty, clarity, everything neatly tied up. But this Gospel tells a different story. Faith often begins in the dark. It begins in questions, in half-seeing, in running toward something we don’t fully grasp.
“Faith has no merit where human reason provides proof.”
St. Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 26
John sees an empty tomb, not a risen Jesus, and yet something in his heart moves first. He believes before he has all the answers.
And maybe that’s exactly where you find yourself this Easter. Not fully understanding. Still carrying questions. Still standing in the quiet space between what was and what will be. And yet, something in you is stirring.
That’s enough. Sometimes, faith looks like simply showing up, looking in, and daring to believe anyway.
Questions for Journaling or Small Group Discussion
1. Where in your life do you feel like you are still “in the dark,” waiting for understanding or clarity?
2. What does it mean to you to believe before you fully understand?
3. Like Mary Magdalene, have you ever mistaken God’s work for loss or absence? What did you learn from that experience?
4. What small “evidence” of God’s presence might you be overlooking right now?
5. What is one concrete way you can “run toward the tomb,” toward God, this week, even with unanswered questions?
6. This Easter, what is one step of faith you feel invited to take, even if it feels uncertain?