Mary Magdalene was the first to see that the body of Jesus had been removed from the tomb and runs back to where the apostles had been hiding for most of the last three days and tells them that the body of Jesus has been taken. Then follows an absolutely delightful scene. Two men, one possibly in early middle age, the other quite young, race together towards the tomb. For some reason, when John was writing this Gospel he felt that this was an important footnote. They run side by side for a while but John gets there first. He does not go in! He steps back and defers to late arriving Peter. Is that just a cute writing touch or does he defer to Peter because of his age, because he already senses that in some way Peter is already the leader of the apostles? When Peter goes in John himself enters and sees the burial cloths on the floor and then comes that astounding sentence. “He saw and believed.”
In this holy season of Easter, each one of us has to ask ourselves about that empty tomb. We were not there. Two thousand years have passed and the question is as pressing today as it was then. Do we believe? Do we believe that the body of Jesus, his terribly wounded body, was brought back to life by the power of Almighty God? Sometimes our holy faith seems quite complicated. We have seven of this and twelve of those and forty something else, but strip them all away and there is really only one question that confronts each one of us. Do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead?
When a person is confronting the depth of their faith, it is good to think about exactly how that faith is anchored, how it is centered and what is the cause of its depth and strength. The answer to those questions is both simple and profound. The cause of our faith is the Christian community, the Church. We believe because billions before us have believed. It is the Church which binds us to the mystery of Jesus and the historical reality of his presence among us.
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What an awesome moment and what a symbolic moment in religious history. Peter and John were the first to discover that the tomb was empty but they did not see the risen Lord. That magnificent honor was to be given to Mary Magdalene. I think that this should be a great symbol for the rest of us.
Regretfully, we don’t know everything that we would like to know about Mary Magdalene. Was she the woman who anointed the feet of Jesus? The text does not actually say that it was her but in the minds of most people Mary Magdalene had a period of weakness in her life until she comes in contact with Jesus. She is transformed. She is holy and this example of just how transformed she is was the fact that this honor, this magnificent honor, is handed not to Peter nor James nor John but this wonderful Jewish woman.
We are still basking in the joyful glow of the Resurrection. That is a good thing because each of us knows that we have had less than perfect lives. We should take great delight in the way Jesus treated Mary Magdalene. She had had some rough edges but once she turned to her Savior she would be transformed in her life on earth and for all eternity.
St. Mary Magdalene pray for us.
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July 29th, 17th Sunday of the Year
Today is for me one of those delightful Sundays where the three scripture readings coalesce into a beautiful collage bringing forward an important message that the Church wants us to absorb. Spread over 2,000 years, the texts mesh together into a beautiful collage.
The Gospel is from the chapter of John and it creates a situation which enables Jesus to begin to tell his people that he is going to give HIMSELF as the nourishment for our souls in order that through him we can be united to God the Father. The first reading from the second Book of Kings frames today’s Gospel because it is a situation where the prophet Elijah is with a large group of followers, has no food and then miraculously produces enough food for all of them.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul beautifully gives the reason for all of this. He challenges his readers from the first century and from the 21st century to live a life worthy of our calling, that is such an important sentence and an amazing challenge to each and every one of us who claims to be a Christian. Life calls for humility, meekness, patience, helping those around us. Paul teaches us that if we do live a life worthy of our calling, we shall bring peace and have peace. We shall be united together in a way that was unimaginable apart from the Eucharist. Paul reminds us that if we live a life worthy of our calling, we become part of a new entity, a unity made possible by the actions and infinite power of Jesus, “This is my Body…this is my Blood.” That unity results in one body, one spirit, one hope…there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism and God our Father.
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Second Sunday of Easter, April 15th
The awe and joy of the Resurrection continues on this, the second Sunday of Easter. John’s Gospel presents several delightful developments flowing out of this center of the Christian faith, namely Jesus of Nazareth’s triumph over sin and death. I refer to our Lord’s infinite patience, forgiveness and his challenge to our faith.
The first scene is the apostles hiding behind locked doors who are suddenly face to face with the Lord. If you look between the lines, you see that this scene not only describes the commissioning of the apostles with power, but certainly reflects his infinite patience and forgiveness. After three years of teaching them, after his constant presence among them, after his steady manifestation of infinite power, their faith dissolved. They had broken and run at the first sight of danger. Add Peter’s denial and the situation is even more disappointing. But what words does Jesus express as he appears among them? PEACE BE WITH YOU! The apostles were blessed that Jesus was Jewish and not Irish. Otherwise, he might have been much harsher.
The next component of this brief drama is poor Thomas. We don’t know his last name but he has gone down in history as Doubting Thomas.
Then you and I work into the story because after Thomas expresses faith Jesus says, “You became a believer because you saw me. Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed.” We don’t walk in Thomas’ footsteps. We walk in those of Jesus of Nazareth.
Onward to Pentecost Sunday.
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Do you recall last week’s gospel readings? I have always been intrigued by John the Baptist.
John , cousin of our divine Lord, plays an important role in our Lord’s life but most of it is concentrated very early in the Gospels. An interchange between Mary and Elizabeth after Mary’s quick visit to her cousin; John’s father several times finds himself in some rather dramatic situations; lots of angels and miracles!
For myself I always found John the Baptist something of a mystery. He is so important and yet there is so little about him. When he does appear in the Gospels, it is consistently dramatic, direct and forceful. Actual quotes from this awesome man are really very limited. I would like to have known what it was like to be the cousin of Jesus of Nazareth. I would like to know if they saw each other as children. Was John a martyr? He was decapitated for proclaiming the strong moral code of the commandments. Did he and St. Elizabeth ever sit around discussing her nephew and his cousin? One of the great sadnesses in my life is that the authors of the Gospel always seemed to have been in a hurry. They provide us with some dialogue but never enough to satisfy our curiosity.
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Tomorrow’s Gospel comes from the 16th chapter of John. The Gospel excerpt is just four verses but carries an awesome message. It touches on his relationship to the Father and to the Spirit. Make time to go back and read what we tend to call the last visit between Jesus and his disciples, that first Holy Thursday evening. Chapters 13 through 17 record an amazing conversation between Jesus and these men who have been following him now for three years. The conversation is intimate, loving and, at the same time, unveiling part of the future- a future that will affect not only Him, but His followers.
The apostles have had a hard time understanding things that were right in front of them such as miraculous healings, and feeding multitudes in the desert as a manifestation of His power. You can well imagine that they had a difficult time comprehending what He was talking about when He was referring to the Father and to the Spirit.
The followers of Jesus would only begin to understand after the Spirit came to them at Pentecost. Grasping what the inner nature of God is like is beyond the human mind, but Jesus and the Spirit have given us at least an insight into the mysterious life that goes on within divinity.
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Mary Magdalene was the first to see that the body of Jesus had been removed from the tomb and runs back to where the apostles had been hiding for most of the last three days and tells them that the body of Jesus has been taken. Then follows an absolutely delightful scene. Two men, one possibly in early middle age, the other quite young, race together towards the tomb. For some reason, when John was writing this Gospel he felt that this was an important footnote. They run side by side for a while but John gets there first. He does not go in! He steps back and defers to late arriving Peter. Is that just a cute writing touch or does he defer to Peter because of his age, because he already senses that in some way Peter is already the leader of the apostles? When Peter goes in John himself enters and sees the burial cloths on the floor and then comes that astounding sentence. “He saw and believed.”
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Body of Jesus, Easter, gospel, John, Mary Magdalene, Peter, tomb 
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