REFLECTIONS TODAY
The Bride in the Song of Songs is the symbol of Israel who longs for the Lord who alone can satisfy the human heart. To seek and to find God in the temple where he dwells is the dream of every pilgrim: “One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: to dwell in the LORD’S house all the days of my life, to gaze on the LORD’S beauty” (Ps 27:4).
Like the Bride, Mary Magdalene looks for Jesus and weeps when she sees the tomb empty. When the risen Lord calls her by name, she recognizes him whom her heart loves, and holds on to Jesus, calling him “Rabbouni”—my dear Teacher! She who is unfairly called a sinner is actually the symbol of the heart who longs for the Lord. Moreover, she is given the privilege of seeing the risen Lord that comes with the mission: she is sent to tell the disciples that Jesus has risen. Rightly is she called “the apostle to the apostles.”
GOSPEL • Jn 20:1-2, 11-18
On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”
SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2021,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.