“Jesus said to her, Mary!  She turned and said to Him, Rabbouni!”

And there is the most tender, powerful, healing, life-changing encounter possible.  Jesus had been Mary Magdalene’s whole life, since he had freed her from seven demons and enfolded her in his intimate band of disciples.  With growing horror, she stuck by his side, as tensions mounted with the Jewish leaders, culminating in his horrific Crucifixion. 

Prevented by the Sabbath from anointing His Sacred Body, the last act of love she could offer, she had to wait numbly until the first moment of the next day.  In fact, it was still dark outside, which certainly reflected her interior:  grieving close to despair, and understanding not a thing.  

But a fresh devastation awaited her:  His body was gone. Mary ran to tell Peter and John that someone had taken Him away, and when they saw for themselves, they returned to their homes.  They didn’t know what to do.

And here is the greatness of Mary’s love:  she remained at the tomb, the last place her beloved teacher had been.  Even if He was no longer there, she could not bear to “leave his side.”  Just as she had stayed with Him at the foot of the Cross as He died, so now she bent down in sorrow, and looked into the jaws of His tomb.  Because of her love, strong as death, she encountered two angels in the tomb. Throughout Scripture, this kind of meeting normally elicits fear, but so great was Mary’s grief, she hardly noticed who they were.  Tenderly they asked her why she was weeping, and she poured out her distress.  And because she had remained glued to her Beloved, even in darkness and not seeing, the Lord then came and spoke to her, drawing out her heart’s deepest pain, “Why are you weeping?  Who are you looking for?”

As she asked again for the Body of her Beloved, Jesus spoke her name – and she recognized Him at last.  Can we imagine the explosion of joy in this encounter? The Good Shepherd calls His sheep by name and in a way unique to each one – full of intimate knowledge, mercy and overflowing love.  Only He could have called her name that way.  In an instant, she knew Her beloved was alive, was before her, and everything had changed.  Twice in this passage it is written that Mary turned around to look at Jesus.  In this encounter with the Risen Lord, Mary sensed that darkness had turned to light, death had turned to Life unending, captivity had been burst asunder by the Resurrection.  She didn’t recognize Him through her senses, but through the exchange of hearts.  The love flowing between them in this Garden scene is poignant, powerful and incredibly intimate.

I once witnessed this explosion of new life when my adult Goddaughter was baptized.  Gloria grew up in a strictly atheist home, where the name “God” was never to be spoken.  She was deeply spiritual by nature though, and when she left home, she found expression for her spirituality through Sufi meditation.  She learned how to quieten her emotions and thoughts in a deep silence.  Yet something was missing.  Gradually, she was led to the Catholic Church and as she lowered her head in Baptism, her life changed.  She heard Jesus call her name in His unique way.  In many ways, she saw Him for the first time.

She said, “from that moment, everything changed.  Suddenly my life had colour, passion, joy.  Even while I’m doing my dreaded cleaning jobs, new life is flowing through me.  Everything has changed from the inside out.  I never imagined I could be this alive.”  Gloria’s radiant joy was a profound witness to the power of resurrection life.

That was Mary Magdalene’s witness as well.  I imagine she threw herself into Jesus’ arms and soaked in His love.  But then He drew back and said, “Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to …my Father and your Father”.  Mary couldn’t claim Jesus as solely hers, and she couldn’t hold on to this extraordinary moment (as Peter also tried to do at the Transfiguration).  As joyous as this reunion was, a greater joy was ahead:  when Jesus completed His work on earth and ascended to His Father, He would send the Holy Spirit, enabling His followers to abide in His Heart – another dramatic “turning around”:  life in the Spirit is interior, far deeper and more complete than a physical embrace.  Nothing short of a complete union of hearts is the desire of Jesus for us.  

Against common sense and reason, Mary alone had waited at the tomb.   And Jesus came to her.  He also called her to be the first apostle, sending her to proclaim the good news of His resurrection to the other disciples.  She was the first to witness that a new world was dawning.  The Lord was victorious over death.  

In union with Christians throughout the world, and with all of heaven, we shout our great Easter cry “Christ is Risen!”

Truly, He is Risen!