Reflection for  Tuesday within Easter Octave.

By

Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Director, Social Action Movement, Don Bosco Bidar 

 Today's Gospel Passage 

 John 20:11-18  

'I have seen the Lord and he has spoken to me'

Mary stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away’ she replied ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognise him. Jesus said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.’ Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’ – which means Master. Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and find the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her.

 Reflection on the readings 

The gospel began with Mary staying outside the tomb weeping.

The gospel ends with Mary of Magdala going forth to tell the disciples that she had seen the Lord.

In between, something very personal, something very intimate, happened to Mary.

She heard the Risen Lord call her by her name, and she responded in Hebrew, her mother tongue, a language that was most intimate to her.

Before that, she was a broken person - weeping, grieving and lost.

But the experience of the Risen Lord gave her back her identity and a mission; she was Mary of Magdala and she had seen the Lord.

Similarly, the Peter who spoke on the day of Pentecost was a different person from the one who denied Jesus three times and wept.

Something happens when people experience the Risen Lord. They regain their identity and find a new purpose and mission in life.

So when we feel that life has come to a standstill, our dreams are broken, and we have more fears than hopes, the Risen Lord comes to us.

He calls out to us just as He called Mary, and Mary responded with her heart.

We can't be always standing outside the tomb of emptiness or the tombs of pleasure, wealth and power and sin.

The Risen Lord calls us by our names. Let us respond with our hearts so that we will know who we really are and then our lives will have a meaning and a mission.


         GOD BLESS YOU

Good morning. Have a nice day.

Let's pray for the forthcoming state Elections to be free,fair and credible.