April 22, 2014 Acts
2: 36-41; Ps 33; Jn 20: 11-18
Dear brothers as we have began to celebrate Easter, the
resurrection of our Lord Jesus from death; today the gospel presents us the
first account of witnesses to this extraordinary phenomenon that Jesus is
alive, that death has no power over Christ. And finally we hear this Good News
is been preached for the first time by Mary Magdalene, “I have seen the
Lord”.
In the different accounts of resurrection in St. John’s
gospel, we see a gradual progress of faith; a journey of faith in the
resurrected Christ, which is different for each persons. John’s account of
Resurrection begins with Mary Magdalene going to the tomb early in the morning
and found the empty tomb and she thought someone has taken the body of Jesus
away. She went and reported this to the disciples. Then Peter and the other disciples went to
the tomb. Peter went in and so the linen. The other disciples also went in, and
he saw and believed, yet St. John the evangelist says that they did not know
the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to
their home. This is followed by the account that we heard today; Mary Magdalene
comes back again to the tomb and finds the angels and then she saw Jesus himself
standing, but she did not recognize him. Then Jesus asks her, “Whom do you
seek? This question is interesting that this is the same question that he asked
when two disciples of John the Baptist went to see Jesus as Jesus was beginning
his ministry and they gradually believed Jesus as the true light, the son of
God, the Messiah.
Mary Magdalene, still not knowing that Jesus is speaking to her,
asks him whether he has taken the body of Jesus. It was only when Jesus calls
her by name, “Mary”, here eyes of faith is opened and she recognizes him as her
teacher and master. Fr. Raymond Brown, a renowned theologian, comments that this
exchange proves what Jesus had said earlier about himself as Good Shepherd.
Jesus the Good Shepherd will call his sheep by name and they will know him.
Mary’s process of coming to the faith depended upon her
personal relationship with the Lord, a personal encounter with Jesus and also
her understanding that he knows her and calls her by name. As we find ourselves
in this Easter stories, let us look our journey of faith. What is my personal
relationship with Jesus? We have known Jesus. We have studied about him. We
have argued about him. We have preached about him. But this is not enough. It
is important that we recognize him. We should hear him calling our name, each
one of us;
In the Resurrection we encounter the living Lord who loves
us personally and shares with us his glory. He gives us “eyes of faith” to
recognize him, to see the truth of his resurrection, the victory over sin and
death. Let this Easter bring us the grace of being known by the risen Christ,
the grace of belief, the grace of being called by our name and we may show by
our lives that the Lord has truly risen. And we may proclaim like Mary
Magdalene: “I have seen the Lord”… Alleluia… Alleluia....
Bro. Jinu Muthukattil S.M.
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