In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We continue our Easter joy on the second day of the octave of Easter. And we have the beautiful account of Mary Magdalene who goes to the tomb, in search of Jesus and we see that her sorrow is turned into joy.
We see in the example of Saint Mary Magdalene one who has a great and ardent love for Jesus, who seeks to be always close to him. And we can learn from Mary that desire to be always close to Jesus, to seek Jesus in our daily life, to be close to Jesus, and above all in those moments when we feel Jesus is absent from our life, that we must seek out Jesus with faith.
This is what Jesus is teaching us in the gospel when he says to Mary Magdalene, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father," meaning that at times we will not always experience the physical presence of Christ in our lives. Saint John of the Cross called it the dark night of the soul. We may feel no connection to Jesus, but in those moments we must walk with faith, trusting in Jesus' presence in our lives and knowing that he is close to us though we don't have any consolation.
He's also teaching her that his work is not finished and that he is going to ascend to the Father to send the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, which will confirm the Church and continue to assist the Church in its mission. Mary also receives that mandate from the Lord, now that she has seen the risen Christ, to go and tell my brothers and share the news of the resurrection.
This is another important theme of the Easter season, that the joy we have in the risen Christ is a joy not kept for ourselves but to be shared with all who we come in contact with in our daily witness, in our walk with Christ, that we may share that news of Christ's victory over death and sin.
May Mary Magdalene help us in this Easter octave to increase our love for Jesus, to always seek him out in our life, and that we might, like her, share our faith with all those whom we come in contact with.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.