LOVING GOD EVEN IN TIMES OF DARKNESS - 7/22/22 (Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene)

John 20:15b-17b

“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.”  

For the full readings, click here: 

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072222.cfm

For more information on St. Mary Magdalene, click here:

https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/july-22---saint-mary-magdalene/

For the examination of conscience and guide to confession, click here:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/examination-of-conscience/

For more information on how to pray the rosary, click here:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/the-most-holy-rosary/

Blessed Feast of St. Mary Magdalene! It's important for us to remember that it was still dark when St. Mary Magdalene was looking for Jesus. His body was no longer present inside the tomb, and she was weeping because of it. She thought that the body of the Lord was stolen, and out of love for Christ, she wanted to see Him. The setting of darkness is significant because of how this symbolizes the life of St. Mary Magdalene. Like all of us, she was a sinner. She was possessed by seven evil spirits which would mean that she was a terrible sinner in the past. And yet, despite the darkness of her sinful lifestyle before, she repented of them when she found Jesus. She continuously served, glorified, honored and loved our God. 

As she was weeping during that time, she was unable to recognize Jesus who was in front of her. She thought that He was a gardener who stole our Lord. Sometimes, when we experience many trials and fall to many temptations, because of sins, we may be unable to know who Jesus is. Our sins affect our intellect, not just in knowing what is good and doing it, but also in recognizing our Lord. One example is when we become attached to worldly things and perspective. We may think that there is nothing wrong with making the riches as the purpose of life because of the satisfactions we get from them. Some people may become motivated to be the "best" in the eyes of the world, and they may view God as having little to no importance in their lives. Even when it comes to what is morally good, we may be influenced by what the world says like in how marriage is defined rather than listen to the Lord.

Even though we may be pushing our Lord aside due to our sins, He is still present with us. He died on the cross and rose again from the dead because He wanted us to be victorious over sins and to be raised up with Him. Just like St. Mary Magdalene, God is calling us to desire to take Him into our lives. We cannot find happiness in the world except in God. He never leaves us even though we do not notice Him because He wants to be loved, not because He needs "validation" but because loving Him is the means by which we can be saved and be united with our Beloved. We can see the love of St. Mary Magdalene towards our Lord, not just in her words, but also in her actions. In the same way, God is always with us because He wants to hear in our prayers how much we love Him, and He wants to see how repentant we are of our sins.

Let's tell how much we love Jesus in our prayers. If we make time to express our affection to fellow people, we should give more to our God. At the same time, even when we are in the dark moments of our lives, we are always given the opportunity by Christ to love Him. Even when we fall to sins, let's immediately turn back to God, reflect upon what happened, and persevere to be more resolved in doing His will. The eyes of St. Mary Magdalene were opened when Jesus called her by her name. God knows all of us, even more than we know ourselves. By knowing our identity as children of God who are created in His image, we will desire to be united with Him forever. May we go to Jesus who is present in the Mass and let's not be afraid to receive His mercy in the sacrament of confession. Let's listen to the voice of Christ in the Scriptures, in the Church and in our conscience. He is our Teacher who will guide us to our path to heaven. 

Amen +

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +

 

May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +  

Reflection by: Dominic