Fully Alive
At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, our risen Lord first appears to the women at the tomb. Their response is striking:
“They went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed.” (Matthew 28:8)
Fearful yet overjoyed—what a paradox.
It’s a reminder that encountering the Lord often stirs emotions that seem to compete yet somehow belong together. There’s a kind of awe in the presence of God that fills us with reverence, even trembling, while also flooding us with joy.
It makes me think of how children can be both nervous and excited at the same time, like standing in line for a roller coaster or awaiting a big surprise. Adults feel it too—a moment so overwhelmingly joyful it brings tears, or an experience so deeply moving it’s both sad and hopeful all at once.
This mixture of emotions is no accident. When we encounter Christ, we are stepping into something utterly beyond the ordinary. His presence moves us because it reveals a reality far greater than what we can grasp. It shakes us, awakens us, and fills us.
It calls to mind the words of St. Irenaeus:
“The glory of God is man fully alive.”
These moments of fear and great joy are not signs of confusion or contradiction—they’re signs that we’re experiencing something extraordinary, something of heaven breaking into our ordinary lives.