GOSPEL POWER | JULY 22, 2021 | THURSDAY | St. Mary Magdalene

 Gospel: Jn 20: 1 – 2, 11 - 18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” . . . But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Reflection

As Mary Magdalene mourns the tragic loss of her Teacher,  Jesus’ corpse has become, for her, a source of security  she cannot let go of. This attachment has kept her hope  shallow and immature — nothing more than to get back the corpse  from whoever carried it away. Jesus destroys Mary’s false security as  he comes to her alive again with the indestructible life of the new  creation that he inaugurated by rising from the dead. This new creation bursts forth with inconceivable possibilities and transforms into new  creatures those it touches. Mary Magdalene is the first to experience  this as Jesus draws her forth from her virtual entombment in grief  and designates her to be the “apostle of the apostles.” Generations of  believers thus honor Mary Magdalene as the one who announced to  Jesus’ apostles the good news of their new dignity as brothers to the  risen Lord and sharers in his divine sonship.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, let the power of your resurrection unmask our false securities  and open to us the limitless possibilities of the new creation. Amen.