The Resurrection
one
The burial
On the evening of Good Friday, Joseph of Arimathaea asked the Governor, Pontius Pilate for permission to take Jesus down from the Cross and bury him properly. Pilate granted the request. So, Joseph took the body of Jesus, cleansed and anointed it, wrapped it in a clean shroud and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away. Now Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph stayed there, sitting opposite the tomb. (Mt 27:61)
What strikes me is that Mary Magdalene remains at the Tomb.
How long did she remain? Only God knows. But it was a long time. At some point she left. But she was drawn back, early Sunday morning.
Gregory the Great writes:
When Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and did not find the Lord’s body, she thought it had been taken away and so informed the disciples. After they came and saw the tomb…the disciples went back home, but Mary wept and remained standing outside the tomb. We should reflect on Mary’s attitude and the great love she felt for Christ; for though the disciples had left the tomb, she remained. She was still seeking the one she had not found, and while she sought she wept; burning with the fire of love, she longed for him who she thought had been taken away. And so it happened that the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see him…
two
O.K., it’s Easter – I want to experience the Risen Christ!
Peter ran to the Tomb and went away unbelieving because he did not remain – he did not watch and pray as Magdalene did. Jesus later reprimands the Apostles in the Upper Room for their unbelief.
But it was also Peter and the Apostles who would not watch and pray in the Garden of Gethsemene so they forsook Jesus and fled and the moment of the arrest.
We must learn the lesson of Magdalene. Those who learn to remain will eventually experience the Risen Christ!
How should we remain? Remain with Jesus every day in mental prayer.
Begin with the Rosary – not once in a while – but make it part of your daily routine.
Then begin to spend more time with Jesus. Extend the time after the Rosary to just be with Jesus in silence and stillness, reflecting on what struck you during the Rosary meditation and talking with Jesus about it.
Or set aside another time of day to read Scripture or the Saints and reflect or think about it and most importantly to love Jesus.
The first thing I do each day is get my coffee and then I spend an hour with Jesus in friendship and conversation with him: talking from the heart, listening by reading the Word of God and then thinking about it and drawing a resolution.
Later in the day I pray a Rosary with Teresa or Sandy my wife.
Most importantly – remain with Jesus 15 minutes after you receive Him in Holy Communion at Mass. This is the closest possible union with God before Heaven. Give him you attention, love and adoration.
Learn the lesson of Magdalene – Remain!
three
Those who learn to remain, those who watch and pray will eventually experience the Risen Christ! However, it probably will not be immediately.
Why does God make us wait? St. Gregory explains:
When our desires are not satisfied, they grow stronger, and becoming stronger they take hold of their object. Holy desires likewise grow with anticipation, and if they do not grow they are not really desires…"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" She is asked why she is sorrowing so that her desire might be strengthened; for when she mentions whom she is seeking, her love is kindled all the more ardently.
Why does God seem to hide himself and make us wait?
Because we receive God in proportion to our desire. God makes us persevere in seeking him to increase our desire so that we receive more of Him. As we heard just a few days ago, we learn from Mary to love Jesus generously with our most precious commodity, our time. Give him time in prayer. Then she teaches us to Persevere in daily meditation and a resolution. Persevere in remaining with Jesus in thanksgiving after receiving Him in the Eucharist. Persevere and your desire will grow and Jesus will fill you with himself in a greater way.
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Apostle to France
In 42 AD King Herod began to violently persecute the Christians in Jerusalem. He put the Apostle James the Greater to death. Then he arrested Peter and put him in prison. However, angels set him free and he fled the country, probably to Rome.
It was then that Herod arrested some of Jesus’ closest friends: Magdalene, Martha, Lazarus, Maximin and others.
They were placed in a boat with no sail, oars or rudder and cast off into the sea so that they would die a horrible death of starvation. Their boat finally landed near Marseille, France. They immediately began to share with everyone the Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus and they firmly established the Catholic Faith in France. Later Magdalene retreated to a life of prayer and solitude in a grotto half-way up the mountain of Saint Baume to be perpetually alone with Jesus. Tradition has it that she lived on nothing but the Eucharist for many years.
In 415 A.D. St. John Cassian went to Marseille France and was shown the tombs of Mary Magdalene, Martha and it was well known at that time that Lazarus was considered one of the founders of the Church there.
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Third Day of the Novena to Divine Mercy
Jesus said to St. Faustina: Today bring to Me all devout and faithful souls, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. These souls brought Me consolation on the Way of the Cross. They were that drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness.
Most Merciful Jesus, from the treasury of Your mercy You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and all. Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from it. We beg this of You by that most wondrous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely.
The miracles of mercy are impenetrable. Neither the sinner nor just one will fathom them. When You cast upon us an eye of pity, You draw us all closer to Your love.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon faithful souls, as upon the inheritance of your Son. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection. Thus may they never fail in love or lose the treasure of the holy faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify your boundless mercy for endless ages. Amen.