Today we are filled with joy, for we celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord. He died on the cross, but now he has been raised from death to new life. Today we are filled with hope, for the sacrifice he made on the cross has opened the way to eternal life. His sacrifice is our salvation. Today we are filled with praise, for Jesus Christ has won victory over the grave. He has redeemed humanity. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Mary of Magdala was first to go to the tomb, before the dawn when it was still dark, and discovered it empty. Jesus was missing — the master who had understood her and cured her, the prophet she had followed faithfully until his death. Who would she follow now? So her lament to the disciples was: They’ve taken my Lord from the grave and we don’t know where they have put him. Her lament could express the experience that many Christians are living through today: What have they done with the Risen Jesus? Where have they put him — the Lord in whom we believe: is it a Christ full of the promise of life or a Jesus whose memory keeps fading little by little in our hearts?

 

We don’t need scientific proofs in order to believe more firmly. To experience the joy of Easter it’s not enough to turn to the magisterium of the Church, or to study theological books. In order to meet the Risen One we need above all to journey within. If we don’t meet him inside ourselves, we won’t meet him anywhere. Later, John describes Mary going about looking for information. But when she does see Jesus, she’s so blinded by grief and tears that she does not recognize him; she thinks he’s the gardener. Jesus just asks her a question: Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?

 

Maybe we too need to ask ourselves something similar: Why is our faith so sad and low-key? What are Christians today looking for? What do we yearn for? Are we going around looking for a Jesus that we need in order to feel full of life in our communities? When Mary doesn’t recognize Jesus, he calls her by her name, with the same tenderness in his voice as when they were walking through Galilee: Mary!. She turns around quickly: Rabbuni! Master!.

Mary meets the Risen One when she feels herself personally called by him. That’s the core of resurrection faith. Jesus shows himself full of life to us when we feel ourselves called by our own name and we hear the invitation that he makes to each one of us. That’s when our faith grows. Our faith in the living Christ won’t be revived only by the Easter accounts alone. We won’t properly meet him if we don’t seek a living, personal contact with him. A combination of the love of Jesus known through the Gospel and sought personally in the depths of our hearts, can best lead us to meet the Risen One. José Antonio Pagola​​​​​​​​​​

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.

The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus” head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​