Tuesday in the Octave of Easter
Lectionary: 262
Reading 1 ACTS 2:36-41
“Let the whole house of Israel know for certain
that God has made him both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom you crucified.”Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and they asked Peter and the other Apostles,
“What are we to do, my brothers?”
Peter said to them,
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is made to you and to your children
and to all those far off,
whomever the Lord our God will call.”
He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them,
“Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Those who accepted his message were baptized,
and about three thousand persons were added that day.
Responsorial Psalm PS 33:4-5, 18-19, 20 AND 22
or:
R. Alleluia.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaPS 118:24
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel JN 20:11-18
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.
Commentary on John 20:11-18 from Living Space
After going off to tell Peter and the other disciples about the empty tomb, it seems that Mary of Magdala went back there to grieve over her lost friend and master. She sees two angels sitting inside the tomb and asks where her Lord has been taken. When asked why she is weeping, she replies that her Lord has been “taken away” and she does not know where he has been put.
So Mary, who (who with Mary, Jesus’ Mother, stood by the cross of Jesus to the very end – unlike the men disciples), is now rewarded by being the first to meet him risen and glorified. She is truly a beloved disciple.
http://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/e1013g/
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SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 2:36-41; JN 20:11-18 ]
Today is the second day of the Octave of Easter. Are you resurrected yet? Or are you still in the tomb? If so, why is it that you are still hiding in the tomb when we are told that the Lord has removed the stone blocking you from coming out of the tomb? Moreover, the morning star has set and the light of Christ is shining so brightly outside the tomb!
If we are still in the tomb, it could be because we are like Mary, who was not able to let go of the past. She could not let go of the beautiful memories she had of Jesus who saved her from sin and from living a meaningless life. She was still thinking of the Jesus of Nazareth whom she loved with all her heart. She was clinging to the things of this world, to what is earthly. At the same time, she could not forget the horrible sight and memories of Jesus who was scourged, mocked, ridiculed and crucified on the cross. She must have been so heartbroken, not just at the death of Jesus but the tragic way He died; an ignominious and innocent death.
It is the same for us too. We are like Mary who continued to cling to our past, the good old days when our children were with us at our side but now no more as they are now living their independent lives. Some of us are in bereavement over the loss of our loved ones; some are widowed and some of us are sickly. Again, when we think of the good old days, we cannot but regret that the good times have passed, and now we are living lives of loneliness and pain. Indeed, it is the tendency of those of us are who suffering to bemoan the nostalgic times and wish that we could relive them.
When we are not ready to move on to a new situation, we become misfits in society and in life. Sadly, those who have suffered failures in relationship, who have been jilted or betrayed in marriage and friendship, are not willing to move on and would rather give up on relationships all together. The failure to adapt and change is the cause of our misery. When we continue to look to the good old days, reinforcing our pains and misery and wallowing in them, we cannot see the Risen Lord or even the angels that the Lord sends to us. This was certainly what happened to Mary Magdalene. We read that “still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she replied, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’” She did not even see the angels or know that they were angels from God who had been sent to help her and console her with the Good News. We, too, when we are absorbed in our pains and hurts, we cannot see the light in front of us and the angels God sends to us through our friends, colleagues, loved ones, the priests and especially the Word of God and the Eucharist.
For others, it is their sins that prevent them from seeing the new life. They have not completely given up their sins. St Paul reminds us of the need to get rid of the old yeast of sin so that we can be fresh dough. (cf 1 Cor 5:7-8) If we are not ready to give up our sins, such as anger, revenge, lust, envy, sloth, greed and gluttony, we cannot find life. Without giving up the sins that we cling to, we remain slaves to all that is negative and destructive of our happiness and freedom. No one who is under the bondage of the Evil One is free to be happy. No one can sin and be truly happy because deep in his heart, he knows that he is not just cheating others but himself. He would have no confidence to stand before God with a clear conscience. (cf1 Jn 3:21) So we must resolve to throw out all that remains of our pride and selfishness so that we can renew ourselves in the power of the Risen Lord.
St Peter made it clear to the Jews that they must repent and be baptized if they want to enter the Promised Land. Peter answered, “You must repent and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God will call to himself.” We must make a decision to turn away from our sins and what that binds us to the past. That was what happened to Mary as well. When her eyes were turned away from Jesus, she could not recognize Him, thinking that He was the gardener. She said, “Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.” To be baptized means that we enter into the tomb of Jesus and rise up again, washed clean of our sins and our past; and put on the new garment, the new creation that we are called to be. (cf Eph 2:10)
But we might say to ourselves, “we have no strength” to do it. We want to come out of our tomb but we find ourselves powerless. We want to forgive but we cannot. We want to make ourselves useful but we are lazy and selfish. We want to be generous but we are afraid to letting go of our wealth and possessions. We want to serve but we are not willing to share our time and leisure with others. We want to live a simpler life but the enticement of money, glory and power overwhelms us. So we are trapped by our sins and the lack of the capacity to break free from our clutches, like the crippled man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple.
That is why we must turn to Jesus. He has already removed that stone. But now we need to get out of that tomb. This also needs His help because we are still too crippled to come out by ourselves. We can now see the light outside the cave shining into our tombs, but we are not able to climb out. This was what Mary did when the Lord drew her towards Him. “Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’ – which means Master.” We need to hear the Lord speaking to us intimately and personally if we are to break free from our chains. St Paul said it for himself when he wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20)
Only when we can come to the conviction that Christ loves us, we cannot be set free from our past and bondages. That was what Jesus said to Mary after calling her name. He said, “Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and find the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” We cannot let go of our straws unless we have found the cross of life. We cannot let go of worldly enjoyments unless we have tasted the joy of love, the peace of a clear conscience, the freedom of surrendering our lives to God as we give ourselves in love and service, not thinking about ourselves and our security but that of others.
So if we want the Lord to enter into our lives and lead us out of the tomb which is now opened, we need to be like Mary Magdalene, pondering the love of Jesus for us. Only when we contemplate what the Lord has done for us, how much He has suffered innocently and died for our sins, will our hearts then be converted like that of the Jews. It was only when they heard Peter’s discourse of how they killed and crucified the Lord and Messiah that “they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must we do, brothers?’” So we must open our hearts, our ears and our eyes in prayer and intimacy with the Lord. When we realize how our sins continue to crucify the Lord even today and how we are hurting Him, because we are hurting ourselves and those whom He loves equally, then our hearts too will be cut to the quick and repent. If we turn to the Lord and seek forgiveness, then St Peter says that we will receive the Holy Spirit who will then give us the resurrected life of Christ. With the Holy Spirit in us, the Father and the Son living in us, we are in Him as He is in us.
