"STOP HOLDING ON TO ME"
We need to hunger more each day for Him, for He is our
help, our shield, and most importantly, He gives us our hope for the eternal
things to come.
In today's
Responsorial Psalm we acclaim, "The earth is full of the goodness of the
Lord" (Ps 33:5b). This is not about the way we make plans for our lives
and our work, nor is it the way that our nation's government makes plans for
the economy. Rather, this is a much bigger view of what we are to be - it is
God's plan and His will for us. We need to hunger more each day for Him, for He
is our help, our shield, and most importantly, He gives us our hope for the
eternal things to come.
In all four of the
Gospels, Mary Magdalene is one of the first women to discover the empty tomb.
At first, Mary did not recognize Jesus. In the midst of her grief, her main
focus was on the empty tomb. It took only one word from the Lord for her to
recognize Him; He called her by name! Her message to the disciples was, "I
have seen the Lord!" This is the very essence of Christianity! The
Resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our hope - and this hope allows us
to see God's ways and God's plans.
In the Gospel of John,
we hear the words of Jesus to Mary: "Stop holding on to Me" (Jn
20:17a). Jesus is God's big plan for us and He cannot stay in the garden; He
has work to do before He returns to the Father. Mary cannot stay in the garden
either. Jesus sends her to return to the disciples, this time with the most
important message - declaring Whom she has seen. Her experience teaches us our
own responsibility. We, too, seek and cling to the Lord for our own comfort,
but are we willing to share our experiences and faith with others?
With trust and prayer,
like Mary Magdalene, may we hear Jesus' Voice and His Words, and come to know
that He is Risen, He is with us, and is even now overcoming sin and death in
us.
"'Stop holding on
to Me! ...I am going to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God. I
will be with you always'" (Jn 20:17; Mt 28:20)!