"I HAVE SEEN THE LORD"
May we recognize, in our own lives, Jesus' presence in His Word, in the "breaking of the bread", and in His Church - the Body of Christ!
Do we recognize the presence of Jesus in our lives? Mary Magdalene, whom the Church honors today, did not immediately recognize the Lord Jesus after His Resurrection. Her focus was on the empty tomb and on her own grief. But, it took only one word from Jesus - when He called her by name - for her to recognize Him. Mary's message to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord" (Jn 20:18), is the very essence of Christianity. Jesus wants us to know Him personally. Through the Resurrection, we encounter the living Jesus, Who loves us personally and shares God's Kingdom with us. Jesus gives us faith to see the truth of His Resurrection and His victory over sin and death (cf Eph 1:19).
Because Mary Magdalene was the first to proclaim Christ's Resurrection, Pope Paul VI called her the "Apostle of the Apostles". Before they began to preach the Resurrection, Jesus sent Mary Magdalene to the Apostles with the message that now, His God and Father is also their God and Father, and ours, too. The message she bears fulfills the promise first given in the Gospel of John: In Jesus Christ, we are all given "power to become children of God" (Jn 1:12). It is only Jesus Who can open our eyes to see the loving power of the Resurrection and to trust that His new life makes us God's children!
May we recognize, in our own lives, Jesus' presence in His Word, in the "breaking of the bread", and in His Church - the Body of Christ!