If already in the total faith of our existence we have a sense of God=s presence then the Easter mystery has to sharpen and deepen this awareness if we are growing in faith. What is one of the ways in which the Lord evokes our Easter faith is to present before us the struggle of Mary of Magdala. So in today=s section of the gospel we see that she rises early and runs to the tomb. She finds that the stone is removed and she runs to the apostles and they run back to the tomb and she=s there too, she runs back because we know as the text goes on that she sits there and weeps. Then there is a dialogue between her and the angels, then her and the gardener, and she discovers Jesus.

        What do we see in this presentation if the Lord wants us to learn about the Easter mystery? First of all you have to remember that Mary of Magdala was at the crucifixion of Jesus. She saw the scourging and in that process, if we follow Mel Gibson=s approach, she discovered that Jesus= tremendous suffering was what cost him to forgive her. She was eager, therefore, to get up on Easter morning to run to the tomb. Her love could not keep her away from Jesus. But she needs to grow a bit in faith. She is obviously focused on Jesus= bodily physical presence as he was before he resurrected. Because in the dialogue with the angels when she quits weeping outside the tomb she decides to go in and there are the two angels and they ask her, @Why are you weeping?@ Then they ask, @Who are you looking for?@ She answers, @They=ve taken away my Lord and I don=t know where they=ve put him.@ So she is more interested in his bodily presence as we experience each other in this world. Then the gardener shows up and she ignores the angels with no small sign of how much she loved Jesus. She=s not focused on these powerful beings which we call angels. She turns from them and turns to the gardener. And the gardener in dialogue eventually says, @Mary!@ The Lord addresses her in the depths of her identity. She responds by throwing herself at him and hugging him. Jesus says none of that stuff, just wait, I have to see the Father, etc.

        We need to really ask ourselves do we really believe that Jesus is risen? Because if we really believe that Jesus is risen it means that I=m aware that he=s alive! He=s approachable. The text of scripture is a mirror for us. It tells us what God is doing for us. Mary, and Mary of Magdala and Jesus encounter each other. Jesus encounters you and me, personally. If you don=t believe he is risen then we don=t encounter him. If we don=t believe he=s alive, we don=t encounter him. That encounter is living presence is a real presence. If God is already present as St. Benedict reminds us, everywhere, then the resurrected Jesus= presence is an increased relationship to God in Christ that is present for us.

        Jesus went around Palestine healing and doing all kinds of stuff. He was physically present but he=s in a limited human body that can only be in one place at one time. Now that he=s risen he is no longer hindered by that, therefore, he can be present anywhere, all the time, everywhere. So he is present to us. If he is present then he is active because he can=t be a zombie or a robot, he=s a person. So he is active toward us. What is he active toward us? All the things he=s been doing when he was on earth, yes, and more! He=s freed up to do more. He knows when we=re tempted, he gives us graces to fight the temptations. He knows when we=re weak he gives us the strength that we need, the fortitude, etc. He=s active.

        Not only that, when you encounter Jesus you get changed. You get transformed just as when you encounter the devil, if you give in you get transformed too, but you become more dead. But with Jesus we are transformed into newness of life. That newness of life means he is making us more and more divine. So if we really are present to this mystery of Easter of some degree then we are a people that=s kind of invincible. We really know, as well as believe, but you need both, that we are God=s children. We are indeed of the family of God. We are being made divine. It=s not Fr. Clement=s opinion. St. John says in his epistle: @ We are not only called but are in fact the children of God.@

        So if we really understand our dignity in who we are and who is with us then we walk through life in a totally different way. Not only that we have a mission. We can=t keep this to ourselves. We have the solution to life. We have with us eternal life and it=s unfolding. So we must invite others so that they too may enjoy the tremendous gift of eternal life.

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