John 20: 11-18
Mary of Magdala features again as the main character after Jesus of course, in this passage. She was one of the few who remained faithful to Jesus throughout his passion and death. She is concerned as she searches for the body of Jesus, a concern that arises out of her love and respect for Jesus. It is a reminder that those who genuinely seek Jesus will find him. In their encounter Jesus reminds Mary that he must ascend to his father and ours, implying that we have the same Father but essentially different, Jesus by nature and ours by adoption, made possible by Jesus’s triumph over death.
He asks her not to cling to him, as He instructs her to spread the news and joy of her new discovery to the other disciples, that He is Risen. We too must tell the story of Jesus, not as a past historical event but in the present, a story for today, Christ is Risen.
We don’t seek the living among the dead or in history, we seek him now, at this minute, at this hour and like those disciples we bring that present news that Christ is alive, that Christ lives now, here in this age, this time, this moment and we invite him to make his home in all of us.
“Faith in the resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being; the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered. God exists: that is the real message of Easter. Anyone who even begins to grasp what this means also knows what it means to be redeemed.” Pope Benedict XVI
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