According to John\u2019s account, Mary of Magdala is the first to go to the tomb<\/b>, while still dark, and she sadly finds out that it is empty.\u00a0 She needs Jesus.\u00a0 He is the Teacher who has understood and cured her.\u00a0 He is the Prophet that she has followed till the end.\u00a0 Whom is she going to follow now?\u00a0 Thus she laments before the disciples: \u201cThey have taken the Lord from the tomb and we do not know where they put him.\u201d<\/p>\n
These words of Mary could express the experience that not a few Christians live today.\u00a0 What have we done to the Risen Jesus?\u00a0 Who has taken him away?\u00a0 Where have we put him?<\/b>\u00a0 The Lord that we believe in, is he a Christ who is full of life or a Christ whose memory is being extinguished little by little in our hearts?<\/p>\n
It is a mistake to look for \u201cproofs\u201d in order to believe more firmly.\u00a0 Appealing to the magisterium of the Church is not enough.\u00a0 It is useless to inquire into the expositions of the theologians.\u00a0 So that we may encounter Jesus, we have, first of all, to make the rounds of our insides.\u00a0 If we do not find him within us, we are not going to find him anywhere.<\/b><\/p>\n
A bit later, John describes Mary as running from one place to another, looking for information.\u00a0 And when, blinded by pain and tears, she sees Jesus, she does not get to recognize him.\u00a0 She thinks it is the gardener.\u00a0 Jesus only makes one question:\u00a0 \u201cWoman, why are you weeping?\u00a0 Whom are you looking for?\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps we also have to ask ourselves something similar.\u00a0 Why is our faith sometimes so sad?\u00a0 What ultimately is the cause of this lack of joy among us?<\/b>\u00a0 What do we Christians today look for?\u00a0 What do we long for?\u00a0 Do we go around looking for a Jesus whom we need to feel to be full of life in our communities?<\/p>\n
According to the account, Jesus is talking to Mary, but she does not know it is Jesus.\u00a0 It is then that Jesus calls her by her name, with the same tenderness he put in his voice when they were walking through Galilee, \u201cMary.\u201d\u00a0 She quickly turns around:\u00a0 \u201cRabbouni, Teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary encounters Jesus when she feels personally called by him.<\/b>\u00a0 That is how it is.\u00a0 Jesus shows himself to us full\u00a0 of life when we feel called by our proper names, and when we listen to the invitation that he extends to each one of us.\u00a0 It is then that our faith grows.<\/p>\n
We will not rekindle our faith in the risen Christ by feeding it only from the outside.\u00a0 We will not encounter him if we do not seek a live contact with his person.<\/b>\u00a0 It is probably the love for Jesus, known through the gospels and sought personally in the depths of our hearts, that can best lead us to the encounter with the Risen One.<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Antonio Pagola<\/b><\/p>\n
March 31, 2013
\nEaster Sunday (C)
\nJohn 20:1-9<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"