My Thoughts on 06/04/2021

The German Benedictine monk Anselm Grun in his series of mediations “Taste the joy of Easter” says that the fact women are the first witnesses of the resurrection must have been quite a challenge for the church of men. “Men need to to see and grasp everything and are not able to perceive the invisible. Women have a feeling for birth and death. They wait patiently beside the cross while men flee. And so women become witnesses of the new birth, of the new life that rises from the tomb.”

In the gospel for today Mary of Magdala is weeping as she finds the tomb empty. She loved Jesus and when asked by the angels why she was weeping she talked about Jesus as her Lord, and when Jesus calls he name,” Mary” she calls him Rabboni. This is a honourifics title for teacher of Jewish Scriptures, implying an important personal relationship – “my teacher”.

We are told she took hold of him or clung to him. In reflecting on this gospel passage today I imagine myself in place of Mary and I imagine Jesus saying my name. When I turn round and see Jesus what would I say? What would I do. Is Jesus my teacher? How important is Jesus in my life? For Mary Jesus was the love of her life. Jesus is the one she seeks. Yet she did not cling to him but did what he asked he to do and told others about the Risen Lord.