Saturday - July 22, 2017
"There are more tears shed
over answered prayers
than over unanswered prayers."
--St. Teresa of Avila
TODAY'S READINGS
July 22, 2017
Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene
Lectionary: 603
Reading 1SGS 3:1-4B
The Bride says:On my bed at night I sought him
whom my heart loves–
I sought him but I did not find him.
I will rise then and go about the city;
in the streets and crossings I will seek
Him whom my heart loves.
I sought him but I did not find him.
The watchmen came upon me,
as they made their rounds of the city:
Have you seen him whom my heart loves?
I had hardly left them
when I found him whom my heart loves.
OR2 COR 5:14-17
Brothers and sisters:The love of Christ impels us,
once we have come to the conviction that one died for all;
therefore, all have died.
He indeed died for all,
so that those who live might no longer live for themselves
but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh;
even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh,
yet now we know him so no longer.
So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.
Responsorial PsalmPS 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
R. (2) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.Tell us, Mary, what did you see on the way?
I saw the glory of the risen Christ, I saw his empty tomb.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelJN 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."
Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.
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 Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
"I have seen the Lord,"
and then reported what he told her.
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Let go of your losses!
Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. She enjoyed being one of Jesus' closest friends. In the Gospel reading, we see her raw emotions. First, she wept -- like we do when someone or something important has been taken from us. All the way to the core, we mourn and we try to hang onto past memories as if bringing them into the present. We wish our time with our loved one or a previous phase of life had never ended. We wish we could go back and relish more fully what we used to have. If we can, we even try to bring it back, and we get mad at those (and at God) who are responsible for our loss. This is normal for a healthy grieving process.
We should reflect on Mary Magdalene's attitude and the great love she felt for Christ; for though the disciples had left the tomb, she remained .... And so it happened that the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see him. For perseverance is essential to any good deed, as the voice of truth tell us: "Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved."
- Pope St. Gregory the Great (from a sermon on St. Mary Magdalene)
In our Gospel reading today, we see the emotions of Mary of Magdala, one of Jesus' closest friends. First, she wept -- like we do when someone or something important has been taken from us.
All the way to the core, we mourn and we try to hang onto past memories as if enfleshing them in the present. We wish our time with our loved one or a previous phase of life had never ended. We wish we could go back and relish more fully what we used to have. If we can, we even try to bring it back, and we get mad at those (and at God) who are responsible for our loss. This is normal for a healthy grieving process.
Surely in Mary's tears was the feeling of: "I loved him sooooo much! I didn't get enough of him! I want more! I need more! I can't believe he's gone. It's not fair! It's not right! How could God allow this?"
Then, when the resurrected Jesus appeared to her and she finally recognized him, she embraced him with excitement, relief, and awe. It was more than a "welcome back" hug. She didn't want to let go.
How do we feel when we regain something we've lost? We want to cling to it so we won't lose it again.
However, Jesus did not let her hug him very long. Why not? Surely he understood her feelings and her needs. His explanation: "I have not yet ascended to the Father." In other words, as good as it was to have Jesus back, something even better was going to happen.
Jesus was going to leave her again. His flesh had to depart from this world so that he could give his Holy Spirit to everyone. Thus he can be with all of us all of the time.
Whatever losses we've suffered, we need to trust that God wants to move us to a new place, a good place. We need to stop clinging to the past and quit the "what if" thinking that only makes us feel more miserable. Then, we become free to move on to a new life in which we experience more of the resurrected Christ through his Holy Spirit.
Death and resurrection are two essential ingredients of Christian living. There is no improvement without loss. There is no loss that comes without improvement, as long as we move through it with the Lord.
It's good to value the past -- just as Mary Magdalene and the disciples forever treasured their three years with Jesus and repeatedly told others about it -- but we should also value what God is planning for the future, even if we don't yet know what that future holds. As scary or lonely as that future seems now, God will be with you, and he will be very good to you!
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God Bless You.....
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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