I have seen the Lord - Jn 20:11-18
Today's Gospel describes the second coming of Mary Magdalene to the tomb of Jesus. When in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene found the tomb open, she immediately ran to Peter and John, suggesting that someone had stolen the body of Jesus. Now, all crying, she came to the tomb for the second time. She had to pray a lot because she saw two angels in the tomb. Angels are unlikely to appear to any human being who is not prayerful. The most important, however, this time will be Magdalena's meeting with Jesus himself. She survived his terribly crucifixion. With her own eyes and remarkably close, she had seen him be horribly tortured. She was deeply traumatized by the fact that after Jesus' death the soldier pierced his side with a spear. The possibility of meeting Jesus alive was so beyond her imagination that she did not know him even when Jesus appeared to her.
She thought he was the gardener; because, as we remember, Jesus was buried in the garden. The Church Fathers knew how to read the spiritual depths hidden in the literally every expression of the Gospel. For example, when commenting on the sentence that Jesus is a carpenter or the son of a carpenter, they emphasized that in the deepest dimension He was the Son of that Carpenter who called the world into existence and shaped it wonderfully. An analogous sense is contained in the sentence that Magdalene, when she saw Jesus, thought that he was the gardener. Because Jesus - explained e.g., St. Gregory the Great - he is really a Gardener who nurtures the life of grace in the souls of his followers, sown the seeds of virtues and collects their fruits. The Risen Jesus is also the Gardener in the sense that he has the power to restore our earth to the form of the Garden of Paradise. It is enough that we really accept Him with all our heart and bring Him into our lives.
The most poignant moment in today's Gospel is the moment when Magdalene recognized the Lord Jesus. She thought he was the gardener. But it was enough for Jesus to say one word; it was enough for Jesus to say her name and she recognized him immediately.
Well, it is worth remembering that although He has billions of us, He knows each of us and calls us by name. May we only have the sensitivity of Mary Magdalene. If only, when God calls me by name, I can hear him.
And only after recognizing Jesus, Mary Magdalene receives the mission, but once again Jesus asks her not to try to stop the past, but also not to stop the moment she is currently experiencing, to open herself to the future and to the mission given to her.
Mary Magdalene is a witness to the victory of a grace that is personal in nature, i.e., the meeting with Jesus is the most important. In turn, the grace of meeting Jesus leads to discovering the Risen Jesus… and to accepting Him, but not to dispose of Him.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george