"Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

Saturday, July 22, 2017

**Joyfully Following Jesus*

        Today is the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. I am presenting the entire Gospel reading, John 20.1-2, 11-18, for it is so moving and beautiful. You can sense that it's an account of exactly what happened. 

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.

        Do you ever miss Jesus when you do no see him? Do you ever feel that your Lord has been taken away from you? Of course, we now know that nothing can possibly take away his love for us. It's a joy to know that Jesus' Father is our Father and his God, our God. How more close-knit can we be? And more joy: we are also going to the Father and God as Christ had done!

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