“Dic nobis, Maria.” “Speak to us, Mary.” These words from the Easter sequence, the Victimae Paschali Laudes, are full of anticipation. We are the disciples who see Mary Magdalene return from the tomb. She is excited, her face red from running, and her eyes wide. And so, we say to her “speak to us, Mary.” In reply, she says “Christ my hope is risen gloriously!” Such wonderful news … but news that can only be possible after encountering the Risen Lord.
If we were to ask Mary Magdalene this question based on our Gospel today, she would give a different answer. She would answer as one who goes to the empty tomb but has not encountered Christ risen from the dead: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him!” To her, the empty tomb is a sign of vandalism and robbery and not of the resurrection.
So, what changed? What happened to Mary Magdalene that made her give a very different answer, that made her move from despair and hopelessness to one of joy and hope? What made her move from mourning into joyful proclamation? It was encountering the Risen Lord. She hears him call her name at the empty tomb and is told to go tell the disciples, Christ’s “brothers,” what she has seen and that he goes before them to Galilee.
But for many, this joy can seem far-fetched. Public Masses are still cancelled or they are ordered not to leave their homes because they are vulnerable. We may be like Mary Magdalene grieving that the Lord has been taken away from us. So, let us be like Mary Magdalene. Let us open our hearts and speak honestly. If we feel abandoned, let us tell Jesus that we are abandoned. If we feel cheated, let us tell him that we are cheated. Only the heart that speaks of its woundedness to Christ can receive the blood and water which gushed forth from Christ’s pierced heart. Only the heart that can speak of what is dead inside because of sin can hear the Lord speak to us: “awake, O sleeper; arise from death, and Christ will be your light! Alleluia!”
Joseph Yuson – St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta
Fot. Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash.com