"Seeing with faith."

Jesus looks at me and speaks my name! Can I hear him?

Do I have a sense of the depth of his love for me as he speaks my name?

As Christians, our life now is a whole new life with God which enables us to proclaim,

along with Mary Magdalene, that we have truly seen the Lord.

 

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Acts 2:36-41

"Let Israel, then, know for sure,

That God has made Lord and Christ this Jesus, whom you crucified."

When they heard this, they were deeply troubled. And they asked Peter and the other apostles, "What shall we do, brothers?"

 

Peter answered: "Each of you must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven. Then, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise of God was made to you and your children, and to all those from afar, whom our God may call."

With many other words Peter gave the message; and appealed to them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." So, those who accepted his word were baptized; some three thousand persons were added to their number that day.

 

Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

John 20:11-18

Mary stood weeping outside the tomb; and as she wept, she bent down to look inside. She saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, and the other at the feet. They said, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She answered, "Because they have taken my Lord and I don't know where they have put him."

 

As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognize him. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and answered him, "Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and take him away."

 

Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned, and said to him, "Rabboni!" which means Master. Jesus said to her, "Do not touch 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, who is your Father, to my God, who is your God."

 

So Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord, and this is what he said to me."

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Seeing with faith."

Among the three characters found in the resurrection narrative of John 20:1-18 namely Peter, the disciple whom Jesus loved and Mary of Magdala. It was Mary, also called the Magdalene, who would, in the end, proclaim that she had seen the Lord. Mary Magdalene was able to pass through the stages from seeing with human eyes to seeing with faith.

 

She went to the tomb at the very early hour of the day because she simply wanted to express her love for Jesus. Perhaps, all she wanted to do was to cry before the tomb of Jesus – a mere continuation of her previous life. However, her old self would not anymore fit in. Jesus has risen. Jesus now offers a whole new relationship.

 

The Father of Jesus becomes our Father too. We now belong to God's family. We can only hear the voice of the Lord calling us by our very name when we enter into such a new relationship. We can only see the true meaning of the empty tomb with the eyes of faith. As Christians, our life now is a whole new life with God which enables us to proclaim, along with Mary Magdalene, that we have truly seen the Lord.