On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him." Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don't know where they laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew,"Rabbouni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and then reported what he told her.
REFLECTION
"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?"
It was to her that the risen Christ first appeared.
She was the sinner whom Jesus drove out 7 demons. She stood by the foot of the Cross.
She is a unique and important figure in the story of the Resurrection. After all, she was chosen by Christ as one to be the first witness of the "event" that changed the world.
We see in Mary Magdalene a deeper understanding of both God's mercy and our sins. Did she have any loitering memories of sin, shame and regret? Was there a balancing act in her heart of hope and despair?
St Bernard Clairvaux said, "You must dwell also on the glad remembrance of God's loving kindness." And indeed she is the perfect example of what one does when God gives us so much and the gratitude of praise and thanksgiving one is to give.
She met Jesus when she was spiritually parched. She was cut off from others, isolated and alone. She had a desire for love and companionship that no one could fulfill. She lived God's loving kindness and it was better than life.
We all have the basic need to be loved. Only God can bring a love by His presence in us. No matter how alone, isolated, how steeped in sin, God will heal us if we allow Him in our lives.
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