Easter Tuesday
Acts 2:36-41 | Psalm 32(33):4-5,18-20,22 | John 20:11-18
They said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away’ she replied ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognise him. (John 20:13-14)
I’m reminded of some startling photos my sister posted on Facebook, taken of our parish’s Divine Mercy stained glass that was veiled during the Easter Tridiuum.
I also recalled a prank I played on my wife after Easter Sunday lunch. We were walking to Thomson Plaza with a friend, but because I had to use the facilities, I walked on ahead of them.
When I’d finished in the toilet, I discovered that they were now ahead of me. Thinking to have a little fun, I snuck up behind them and intoned:
Who are you looking for?
JESUS THE NAZARENE!
Odd that Jesus asks Mary of Magdala that same question in today’s Gospel.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
We weren’t there when Christ rose from the dead, but we have seen through the eyes of those who beheld that Easter mystery, by their accounts of what transpired during those dark days that ended gloriously.
We weren’t there when He spoke to His disciples, but we have heard His words through sacred scripture.
Our eyes have seen; our ears have heard. What now?
Mary of Magdala exclaimed: “They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him.”
Where have we taken Jesus, and where have we put Him?
Front and center, surfacing in our daily words and deeds?
Or hidden away in a musty closet somewhere, to be dusted off a few times a year for “private consultation” at church?
Where can we find Jesus in our lives? How often do we see but not recognize Him?
In the forlorn expression of the elderly lady I passed over at church on Easter Sunday?
In the migrant workers and local citizens who clean our surroundings each day?
In the mother and Down syndrome child on the train, whom everyone seemed to avoid for irrational reasons?
As the old hymn exhorts us:
Let our light shine for all to see
Serving both friend and enemy
Since He died for us, let us live for Him
And be His disciples eternally
Amen.