Tuesday,
April 03, 2018
Octave of Easter,
Tuesday
1st Reading: Acts 2:36-41
Gospel: John 20:11-18
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel
in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Mary of Magdala was grieving because she was looking for Jesus but couldn’t find him. The funny thing was that Jesus was right in front of her but she did not recognize him. There are four possible reasons. First, she was expecting to find Jesus among the dead, and so there was no chance he could be that alive and kicking gardener standing before her. Secondly, her tears made her vision too murky to see the man in front of her clearly. Thirdly, the risen Jesus looked so different from the Jesus she used to be with before the Passion and Death. Fourthly, she was perhaps too focused on her problem that she wasn’t attentive anymore to her surroundings.
Let’s draw lessons from this fourth possible reason because like Mary of Magdala, we too tend to give undue focus on problems that come our way. When we do, the problem looks bigger than it actually is, and it overwhelms us. We then lose sight of Jesus who is more powerful than any problem within our experience. Didn’t he walk over troubled waters, calm tumultuous winds and exact obedience from violent waves? Is there any disastrous power in our human experience that does not bow to the power of God? Charismatic groups tell us that he who is possessed by his problem disturbs God saying, “Hey, God I have a big problem!” But he who does not focus on the problem but on the power of God rebukes the problem saying, “Hey problem, I have a big God!” – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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