*****God's Most Beautiful Love*****

      God's love for us is absolutely pure, and that makes it most passionate and overwhelming. Today is the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene. The antiphons, the verse from reading 1, and Gospel acclamation . . . all show how this most beautiful, powerful love is and has affected us.
        (1) The entrance antiphon from John 20:17. The Lord said to Mary Magdalene, "Go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Jesus shares his Father and his God with us!
        (2) Verse 4 from Song of Songs 3. I have found him whom my soul loves. We love God with our soul, beyond our heart!       
        (3) Response from Psalm 63. My soul is thirsting for you, O loving God.
    (4) Gospel acclamation from John 20:15. Jesus said to Mary Magdalene, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" We who love the Lord look for him and weep for him often.
       (5) Communion antiphon from 2 Corinthians 5. The love of Christ impels us, so that those who live may no longer live for themselves but for him who died and was raised.
        This is the love for us to live in!