Easter Sunday, April 21st, 2019

Easter Sunday, April 21st, 2019

In the days in which Our Blessed Saviour walked the earth, it was the custom that loved ones should visit the tomb of someone laid to rest for three days following the burial.  This was done because it was believed that the spirit of the deceased stayed around for those first three days.  Thus, on that first day of the week, St. John tells us in the Twentieth Chapter of his Gospel, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb where they had laid Our Blessed Lord and she found it empty.  Now we have to remind ourselves that this "first day" of the week was Sunday for Saturday is considered the Sabbath and no Jew faithful to the Law would have come on the Sabbath.  Thus, St. Mary Magdalene waited until Sunday to come to the tomb.  Even then St. John informs us that it was very early when she went "while it was still dark." (v. 1)   She could not wait, in other words, to come and pay her respects and be with the One who made such a difference in her life.  She wanted to spend time with Jesus even in His death because Jesus had shown her compassion.  Jesus had forgiven her.  This Man Jesus showed her that she was loved by God.  And so she went to the tomb early on that first day of the week.  We can only imagine her shock . . . her disbelief . . .  her pain when she arrived at the tomb and found it empty and the stone rolled away.  Her first reaction was to run and find St. Peter.   St. Mary said to the disciples when she found them:  "They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him" (v. 2)  Even her words betray her true belief that someone had simply stolen away the body of Our Lord from the tomb.  Then St. Peter and St. John ran to the tomb to see for themselves what Mary was talking about.   And when St. Peter and St. John had investigated the empty tomb themselves and went back home, St. Mary stayed behind.   And it is a good thing that she did.  Because by staying behind, she was rewarded with the sight of her Blessed Lord.  He appeared to her.  And this would not have happened if she did not continue her search.  She was rewarded for her persistence, wasn't she?  And even when Our Lord appeared to her, even then she did not recognize Him at first.  When Our Lord spoke her name, "Mary."  When Our Lord said her name it was at this point that she knew it was Him.  (v. 16)  In this age in which we live we want everything "five minutes ago."  We want everything given to us now.  And if we do not want it badly enough, we don't even make the attempt.  St. Mary Magdalene, St. Peter, and St. John looked for Our Lord.  They waited for Our Lord.  If we want something we have to go find it.  So many of us want happiness but we never seem to truly find it.  We keep searching and searching thinking we find it but then after a while we begin our search again.  We need to search for God.  We need to make a point to search for Jesus.  The ironic thing is that similar to St. Mary Magdalene, Jesus is speaking to us throughout our life and we may never even realize it.  Our Lord spoke to her and she at first thought that He was the gardener.  How many times has God spoken to us and we did not pay any heed?  Let us pay attention and listen lest we do not hear what God is saying to us.  Let us search for Our Blessed Saviour and be faithful to Him.  

(PLEASE NOTE: EASTER MASS AT ST. MARGARET BEGINS AT 12:00 NOON IN THE CHAPEL.  PLEASE NOTE THE TIME CHANGE FOR EASTER SUNDAY ONLY.  MASS WILL BE CELEBRATED IN THE CHAPEL AT 12:00 NOON)

St. Margaret Anglican Church worships at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.