Whom You Seek

Who do we want in our lives?  Who are we looking for?  In the answers to these questions, we define ourselves.  You show who you are by the company you keep.  You make clear your identity through the people you want to have around you.  Through who you welcome into your heart, you not only fix your relationship with your neighbor, but also your relationship with God.  

Today as we celebrate the feast day of Saint Mary Magdalene, through her example, we are reminded that we show who we are by who we seek.  In today's Gospel reading we are told of how she went looking for Jesus after He had been buried.  There we hear that 

On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
"They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don't know where they put him." 

Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
She said to them, "They have taken my Lord,
and I don't know where they laid him."
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?"
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
"Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
"Rabbouni," which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her,
"Stop holding on to me, 
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
'I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.'"
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
"I have seen the Lord,"
and then reported what he told her.*   

Mary Magdalene saw that Jesus' tomb had been opened.  She not only ran to tell Saint Peter and the other disciple who Jesus loved, who was Saint John, but, since she sought Jesus, she returned to the tomb.  There she encountered Jesus.  Yet she did not realize she had once again been visited by Jesus.  Jesus comes to us.  Do we recognize Him?  

A homeless woman showed up at my doorstep yesterday.  Did I see Jesus in her?  Jesus has told us that whatever we do to the least of those among us, we do to Him.**  Whatever we do to the homeless person in front of us, we do to Jesus.  

We can become passionate about Jesus.  We can become so intent on finding God that we can fail to recognize Him when He is standing next to us.  Then Jesus, in the impoverished person before us, may ask us, "Who are you looking for?"  

Everyday we are presented with precious opportunities to love which are wrapped up with, which are inextricably intertwined with, our eternal destinies.  When we have gotten to the other side of death, then we will meet Jesus no longer in poor persons, but Jesus as Himself.  Then He will address us according to what we have done.  

If we have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the ill, and visited those in prison,*** Jesus will bid us to inherit the Kingdom.****  If we have failed to perform these corporal works of mercy, Jesus will tell us to depart from Him.*****  For whatever we do to the least of those among us, we do to Him.  And whatever we fail to do to those who are the least among us, we fail to do to Him.******  

So, now, while we still have the chance to be merciful to our neighbor, especially those who are the least among us, do we recognize Jesus among us now, in the poor persons in front of us?  Do we seek Jesus in the impoverished person, in the homeless person, who is literally reaching toward us, asking us for just a little bit of food to ease the hunger pains crying out towards us?  

In whom we seek, we define ourselves.  For in whom we seek, we decide our eternal destinies.  In who we are looking for, we determine our relationship with God.  Let us turn toward God, by opening our hearts to love, by loving our neighbor, right now, right in front of us.  Amen.  

* John 20:1-2, 11-18
** Matthew 25:40 
*** Matthew 25:35-40 
**** Matthew 25:34 
***** Matthew 25:41 
****** Matthew 25:45 

Light Has Risen

Light has risen on us; we are no longer in darkness.  When we were in darkness, darkness clouded our vision.  Now, although we are not in darkness, but in light, yet because we mistakenly think we are in darkness, we cannot see.  Due to the darkness we think is around us, we cannot see despite the light which has already risen, which we do not yet recognize.  When we see so narrowly, we cannot see our loved ones when they are not standing before us.  When faith, hope and love permeate our being, then we see our loved ones even when they appear to be gone.  When we have faith, we welcome the Spirit at work in, through and around us, and see the Spirit transform us.  

We hear of these challenges of perception and vision in today's Gospel reading for Easter Sunday.  In this Gospel reading, we hear that 

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb 
early in the morning,
while it was still dark, 
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter 
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, 
"They have taken the Lord from the tomb, 
and we don't know where they put him."
So Peter and the other disciple went out 
and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter 
and arrived at the tomb first; 
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, 
but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him, 
he went into the tomb 
and saw the burial cloths there, 
and the cloth that had covered his head, 
not with the burial cloths 
but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in, 
the one who had arrived at the tomb first, 
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture 
that he had to rise from the dead.*  

Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus so early in the morning that it was still dark.  When we are in darkness, we cannot see.  Jesus had just died.  Mary Magdalene thought she was in the midst of a dark time.  When we think we are in darkness, we cannot see.  

Yet Jesus had already risen from the dead.  Mary Magdalene incorrectly thought she was immersed in a dark hour.  Actually, Jesus had dispelled the darkness.  The light had risen.  Yet since Mary Magdalene was convinced that she was in darkness, she did not realize that the light had risen.  

Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb and saw that the huge stone, which had been blocking the entrance to the tomb, had been rolled away.  She went and told Saint Peter, and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, who was Saint John, and told them that they had taken the Lord Jesus.  She did not know where He had been taken, for she did not see Him.  

When we do not see who we love, we think they have gone.  Those we love live in our hearts.  Those we love live through us, in our thoughts and prayers.  We help those we love to live through the words we speak.  In our actions, we can give love to those we love, and let them live through the love we give.  We can honor the memory of those we love by allowing them to live on through us.  

Even though Saint Peter and Saint John saw the empty tomb, they still did not understand the Scripture passages which said that Jesus had to rise from the dead.  They did not realize that the Holy Spirit had raised Jesus from the dead.  

The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us as long as that Spirit dwells in us.**  I can testify to the transformative and healing power of the Holy Spirit.  When I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco, I read the entire Bible: day after day I would read a little of the Bible, so that after months had passed, I had read the whole Bible.  As I did so, I was purged of particular sinful tendencies I had had for decades.  After I had left Morocco, I looked back and I marveled, and was amazed and puzzled by how I had been purified of certain sinful inclinations I had had for so long.  When I lived at the hermitage, I related to one of the wise Camaldolese monks there how I had been rid of these sinful habits I had had.  I shared with him how I wondered at how I had been freed from the chains of slavery to sin which had bound me for so many years.  This sagacious monk pointed out to me that I was liberated from these sinful patterns upon reading the Bible.  He explained to me that I had been cleansed by The Word that God had spoken to me.***  

When we welcome the Word of God into our hearts, miracles happen.  We are transformed.  The Spirit of God flows into and through us, and frees us from what has been enslaving us.  

Jesus came to proclaim liberty to the captives.****  If we simply consent, God will set us free.  If we turn to God with all our hearts, if we open our hearts to what God has to say to us, God will loosen the bonds which have been holding us back.  If we want God to help us to come to Him, we must do our part: we must welcome Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.*****  When we do so, God transforms us.  

Jesus came to give sight to the blind.******  If, living in utter simplicity, we uncomplicate our lives and simply assent to God, He will show us The Way which gives us the light we need to see as we journey back home to Him.  

If we acquiesce to being humbled by God, He will exalt us.*******  When we agree to the plan God has for us, God abundantly rewards us.  Upon welcoming what God has in store for us, we feel a deep and profound joy.  Here we dwell in the knowledge of who we are and who God is.  Here we have deep peace, and a joy which no one will take away from us.********  This is Heaven.  Let us, then, in this life now, enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and enter into eternal life.  Amen.  

* John 20:1-9 
** Romans 8:11 
*** John 15:3 
**** Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18 
***** Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27 
****** Luke 4:18 
******* Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14 
******** John 16:22