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Mary, Do Not Cling to What Has Changed
Where We Are
Alleluia! Tuesday within the Easter Octave brings us one of the most tender encounters in all of Scripture. The evangelist John gives us the scene at the empty tomb through the eyes of Mary Magdalene, the first witness of the Risen Lord. Yesterday, the women ran with joy from the tomb; today, Mary stands weeping outside it, unable to comprehend what has happened. In Acts, Peter continues his Pentecost sermon, and the crowd is "pierced to the heart," asking what they must do. Three thousand are baptized that day. The pattern of Easter continues: encounter with the Risen Christ leads to transformation, which leads to proclamation.
The Word
Peter's sermon reaches its climax in Acts: "God has made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." The crowd is cut to the heart and asks, "What shall we do?" Peter answers: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins." About three thousand are baptized. In the Gospel, Mary Magdalene stands weeping at the tomb. She sees two angels who ask why she is crying. "Because they have taken away my Lord." She turns and sees a man she mistakes for the gardener. Then he speaks her name: "Mary." She recognizes Jesus and cries out, "Rabboni!" Jesus tells her, "Go to my brothers and say: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
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Reflect
"Mary." One word, and the whole world pivots.
John's account of this encounter is a masterpiece of intimacy. Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons, who had followed him to the cross when nearly everyone else had fled, now stands alone in a garden, weeping. She has lost everything. The man she loved and followed is dead, and now even his body is gone.
She mistakes Jesus for the gardener, and there is a beautiful echo here. The first garden was Eden, where humanity lost its way. Now, in another garden, the new Adam stands before a woman who does not yet recognize him. He calls her by name, and she knows him. This is how the Good Shepherd operates: "He calls his own sheep by name" (John 10:3).
But then comes the mysterious instruction: "Do not cling to me." This is not a rejection; it is a redirection. Mary wants to hold on to Jesus as he was before, the Teacher who walked the roads of Galilee, who sat at table with friends. But the Resurrection has changed the nature of his presence. He is not going back to the old life; he is ascending to the Father, and his presence will now come through the Holy Spirit, through the Eucharist, through the community of believers.
Mary must learn, as we must learn, that the Risen Christ cannot be possessed or contained. He is always ahead of us, always drawing us forward. Her grief becomes mission: "Go to my brothers." She becomes the apostle to the apostles, the first to carry the Easter proclamation.
Living It
Listen for your name today. In prayer, in Scripture, in the quiet moments between tasks, Jesus calls you by name just as he called Mary in the garden. He knows you; he sees your grief, your confusion, your longing. Let him speak. If you have been clinging to an old version of your faith, one that was comfortable but has stopped growing, hear Jesus say, "Do not cling to what was. I am doing something new." Like Mary, let your encounter with the Risen Lord become a mission. Tell someone today about a moment when God met you in your grief and turned it to joy.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you called Mary by name in the garden, and in that single word you turned her grief into joy. Call us by name today. Meet us in our confusion and our tears, and help us recognize your voice. When we try to cling to old ways of knowing you, redirect us toward the new life you are creating. Make us messengers of your Resurrection, carrying the good news: you are alive and ascending to the Father. Alleluia. Amen.
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