When Jesus died, his apostolic Church was a failure.
Among his chosen apostles, one betrayed him for money, all the others ran away at his arrest, and one saved himself by cursing and lying that he did not know Jesus.
Full apostolic failure!
The faithful remnant was in Mary his mother, one apostle who crept out of hiding to slip in behind Mary, some other women, another Mary who used to have seven demons, Nicodemus the Pharisee, and Joseph of Arimathea.
Then the Resurrection broke in from beyond both failure and faithfulness.
At times things may tend to be as they were when Jesus died, as they may now be, and as they may ever be until our Father’s heavenly Kingdom come to break into the Church and the world from beyond all human failures and all human faithfulness.
Our Father who art in heaven, thy Kingdom come, deliver us from evil!
Sick Pilgrim 