Gospel: Jn 20:1-2, 11-18
ON the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”
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.
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At first, Mary Magdalene sees angels guarding the empty tomb, then later a man whom she mistakes for the gardener. When Mary hears her name spoken by Jesus, she finally recognizes him to be her Teacher.
Mary Magdalene is always mentioned as belonging to the company of other women-disciples of Jesus. She comes from the town of Magdala, and in Scriptures she is described as the woman “from whom seven demons had gone out” (Lk 8:2). Going through a turbulent life and becoming a “borderline personality,” she met Jesus who welcomed her to his circle of women-disciples.
Mary Magdalene is now known to be the apostola apostolorum or the “apostle to the apostles” since she is the first person to discover about the empty tomb. The risen Christ also entrusts to her the task of conveying to the Apostles the good news of the resurrection.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2018,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
