But 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 of Magdala went and announced
to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and what he told her. (John 20: 11-18)
Introductory Prayer: Dear Lord, I want to find you
in prayer. I believe that you are here awaiting this expression of my love. I
trust that you will manifest yourself to me and speak to my heart. I love you
and share your love with others. Show me how to live this love, Lord.
Petition: Grant me Lord the grace to seek and
possess you so much in prayer that I will faithfully give you to others.
1. “They Have Taken My Lord.” Mary’s words reveal
that she is not simply following through with the formalities of Jewish burial
custom, but she is seeking the Lord. Deep bonds of faith and love have bound
her to Jesus. She weeps because he has been kept alive in her heart. Jesus
belongs to her. Out of love she will anoint his dead body. Nothing will keep
her from loving him, not a huge boulder, nor guards, nor strangers who may have
taken him away. For her they have not just taken his body, “they have taken my
Lord.” Is Jesus “my” Lord? Have I allowed a personal relationship to develop to
the point that I seek him in all that I do, to the point that any offense to
him hurts me?
2. “Whom Are You Looking For?” Jesus does not
abandon those who look for him. “Seek and you shall find,” he had told his
disciples. So many people today spend their lives searching for all the wrong
things, those that enslave them, those that leave them empty and broken. Mary
is searching for her true love and happiness. She has experienced loneliness before,
but never so deeply.
Jesus speaks to her first through the angels: “Why
are you weeping?” And then he himself repeats, “Who is the one for whom you
weep?” As if to say, “Remember who it is you are looking for. Did he not first
seek and find you?” Mary doesn’t answer, she just insists, “If you have carried
him away … I will take him.” He speaks her name, as he had done so many times
before, “Mary,” and Jesus finds her again. Do I know whom I am searching for in
prayer?
3. “Stop Holding Onto Me.” And so Mary does “take”
Jesus back, as she embraces the body she thought to be dead and lost. She is
not about to let go either. She will not lose her Lord again. Yet, Jesus’ words
seem surprising, “stop holding on to me.” Surely he wants her faith and love to
hold on to him. Surely he wants her to keep growing in friendship and intimacy
with him. Surely he wants her never to lose sight of him. But in this life it
is not enough to contemplate Jesus. Holding him means to communicate him, his
life and his love. “When I am in heaven you can simply hold on to me forever,
but for now we must evangelize the world. Go to my brothers and tell them.”
Does my prayer produce the desire and act of bringing Christ to others?
Dialogue with Christ: Help me Lord to persevere in
seeking you. Grant me the grace to live out my search in my life. May my heart
hold on to you and to your will as you reveal it to me. I want to love you to
the point of communicating your life by all I say and do. Let my love bring
others to you. May I always hold on to you the way you want me to.
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