Today we read about Mary Magdalene's encounter with our Lord risen from the dead.
The Gospels present her to us as the first witness of the resurrection, whereas in reality
it was Our Lady who was the first to witness Our Lord's rising from the dead.
She was the first one to encounter Our Lord risen from the dead, although the Gospels
do not relate this.
And I won't stop on this really interesting subject in this homily.
I can refer you to a beautiful audience of St. John Paul II from the 21st of May 1997
for more info about that, Our Lady as the real first witness of the resurrection, although
not narrated in the Gospels.
But today, just focusing on Mary Magdalene as the first recorded witness of the resurrection,
we see how, although she is in Christ's presence, she is unable to recognize Him,
at least not immediately.
The Gospel says, She turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know that it was
Jesus.
Although she is in His presence, she is looking right at Him, speaking with Him, she is unable
to recognize that it is Our Lord, He's there but hidden.
But conversely, Our Lord, looking at her, recognizes her, is able to see her, know her,
is able to call her by name.
And although her experience and our experience are not exactly the same, yet in a certain
sense there's a parallel, there's an analogy.
Because we too, we too are in the presence of God at all times.
So there's in theology, this property of God, this attribute of God that's called His ubiquity.
He is present in all places, precisely because He is God.
We are in His presence everywhere we are.
Although we know by faith that we are in God's presence, we nevertheless don't see it.
We don't perceive it.
It's not something that is known by the senses.
And even more so, sacramentally, we know, for example, when we are in front of the Blessed
Sacrament, we well know by faith, by the authority of Christ Himself who said it, that under
the appearances of bread and wine, His body, blood, soul, and divinity are present.
We know we are looking at Him, we know we are speaking to Him, and we know that in all
the seven sacraments, our Lord is present.
But yet our eyes cannot recognize Him.
He's there but hidden.
His presence there is real but sacramental, there but hidden.
Yet we are not hidden to Him.
So that's really the point here, especially in the sacraments.
Although we, so to speak, struggle to see our Lord, by faith we know with certainty
He is there.
However, our senses don't help us, so it's sometimes, to use this word, a struggle.
But not for our Lord, when we come to Him, especially in the sacraments, in the Blessed
Sacrament, for Him it's no struggle to see us, recognize us, and to call us by name.
It's a helpful thought when we come to Eucharistic adoration.
Sometimes our minds are distracted, precisely because we don't see our Lord face-to-face
as we will in heaven, it takes a while for us to transition, we have to put in that effort
of reminding ourselves, yes, our Lord is here.
For our Lord, it's not a struggle, as soon as He sees us, He recognizes us, gives us
His whole undivided attention, to use this anthropomorphic language, so to speak.
And He calls us by name, there is no struggle for Him.
In fact, He speaks to us always in the first person in the sacraments, in every Mass, we're
about to move into the liturgy of the Eucharist, our Lord says, this is my body given up for
you, and He speaks to all of us in the first person, for you, and you, and you, and you.
He sees we are here, and in the sacrament of confession, He forgives each and every
one of us by name.
I, Christ, who speaks through the priest, I forgive you, and you, and you, and whoever
comes to the sacrament of confession, He sees us, recognizes our faces, speaks to us
by name, I anoint you, I baptize you, and so it is in all the seven sacraments.
So while our experience is different than that of Mary Magdalene, in the end, in a certain
sense, at least it's not all that different.
And it's a helpful thought, hopefully, I share with you because I hope it can be helpful,
In our reception of the sacraments, to keep that in mind, our Lord sees us, recognizes
us, and speaks to each and every one of us by name, as we are preparing ourselves now
to receive Holy Communion, let's keep that in mind, let's listen to our Lord, who will
call each of us by name, and receive Him with faith.
Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.