Reading 1
Jer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13
This word of the LORD came to me:
Go, cry out this message for Jerusalem to hear!
I remember the devotion of your youth,
how you loved me as a bride,
Following me in the desert,
in a land unsown.
Sacred to the LORD was Israel,
the first fruits of his harvest;
Should any presume to partake of them,
evil would befall them, says the LORD.
When I brought you into the garden land
to eat its goodly fruits,
You entered and defiled my land,
you made my heritage loathsome.
The priests asked not,
"Where is the LORD?"
Those who dealt with the law knew me not:
the shepherds rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after useless idols.
Be amazed at this, O heavens,
and shudder with sheer horror, says the LORD.
Two evils have my people done:
they have forsaken me, the source of living waters;
They have dug themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that hold no water.
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."
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 Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
"I have seen the Lord,"
and then reported what he told her.
Meditation: John 20:1-2,11-18
St. Mary Magdalene
Mary! (John 20:16)
Mary Magdalene had been plagued by demons, and Jesus healed her. With gratitude, she joined the band of women who cared for his financial needs (Luke 8:2-3) and was among those who followed him from Galilee to Jerusalem (Matthew 27:55-56). Along with the twelve, she was privileged to hear his word and see his miracles every day. What’s more, while many fled in fear at the garden of Gethsemane, she stayed with him, a true disciple to the end (John 19:25).
Grief-stricken, Mary went to mourn at Jesus’ grave, out of respect and gratitude for all he had done for her. But her sorrow was turned into joy when she saw the empty tomb and then Jesus, risen from the dead! Calling her by name, Jesus freed Mary again—this time from the grief that had overcome her as she watched him die. With a single word, “Mary,” she was revived. And her reply, “Rabbouni,” Master, contained not only relief and joy but a pledge of faith in him and his gospel.
Just think: Jesus first appeared not to the priests and rulers of Israel, nor to the twelve apostles, but to a woman with a disturbed past. This was the person Jesus chose to be the first witness of the resurrection. This was the one he decided would have the honor of being the “apostle to the apostles,” the first evangelist.
God revealed himself to someone the world considered lowly and unlikely. Whatever kind of bondage Mary had suffered—whether she had been mentally ill, trapped in sin, or afflicted with a debilitating illness—it didn’t disqualify her. And neither are we disqualified, whether by past sins or current disabilities. Jesus came for just this reason, to deliver us from our sins and to fill us with the dignity of chosen and beloved children of God. He calls us each by name to share eternal life with him. He seeks to transform us, one and all, through his Holy Spirit so that we can be witnesses to his resurrection.
“Lord Jesus, you are the hope of glory! My heart rejoices at the sound of your voice. Thank you for awakening hope in me and lifting me up to new life in you.”
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