to look inside; she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, (...) 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, “Lord, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned
and said to him, “Rabboni” which means, Master. Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me; you see 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.”

Reflection:

Mary of Magdala takes center stage in our gospel today. After all, among
the women disciples of the Lord, she is perhaps second to the Blessed
Virgin in terms of closeness to Jesus. Proof of this is her leadership in taking
care of the dead body of the Lord after the crucifixion. In other biblical accounts,
she is with two other women. In this particular passage, only she
is mentioned. What made her brave darkness in going to the tomb early on?
It is her deep love for Jesus that lend her courage to do so. Her effort
is rewarded with an empty tomb. She immediately concludes that somebody
took the body of Jesus. The resurrection is still a far possibility during that time. It
is only when somebody called her name that she recognized her Lord and
Teacher standing in front of her. Because of this, she was the first to see Easter
breaking forth. It was she who informed the other disciples of this joyful news. In
Mary of Magdala, hope is once again renewed among the disciples.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2021