John 20:11-18
Mary Magdalene 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 went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and then reported what he had told her.
Dawg's thought:
Today's prayer intention is for engaged couples, that they grow in obedience and humility and that their time of engagement brings them closer to Our Lord.
Rejoice, for it is Easter! The season of Lent is behind us, and we are no longer bound to our Lenten sacrifices. Finally, we can indulge in all the things that we have given up.
Hold on...
During the season of Lent, we normally "give up" a vice or "build up" virtue in order so that we grow closer to God. Now that we are in a season of rejoicing, does this change? If we truly desired to grow holier this past Lent through our sacrifices, why go back the desiring the former?
Mary Magdalene was never the same after encountering Our Lord. Mary Magdalene found joy in the many sins that was forgiven, and in today's reading, finds great joy in seeing Our Lord conquer death. Regardless of her vices, her life was changed upon encountering Our Lord, and her desire was to be with Jesus.
The joy of Easter should call us to the same conversion. We should continue to strive to be free from our vices. We should continue to pursue the virtues that help us grow in holiness. We should rejoice in our calling to holiness and rejoice in Christ our freedom in Christ.
Let us rejoice this season, for Christ is risen, and He calls each of us to be with Him from now and beyond the end of time. Take care and God Bless.
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