22ND JULY 2022
SEEKING WHAT IS WORTHWHILE NOT JUST WHAT IS WONDERFUL.
FEAST DAY OF SAINT MARY MAGDALENE.
SONG OF SOLOMON 3:1-4
PSALM 63:2-9
JOHN 20:1-8
It is highly possible that our familiarity with today's Gospel reading may make us miss out on a poignant issue that has also been highlighted and the issue is seen when Jesus tells Mary Magdalene," Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?"
Mary Magdalene's weeping is clearly associated with what Jesus has asked her," Whom do you seek?" It means that her weeping will cease when she finds the person she is looking for.
Mary Magdalene's response to Jesus, that is, " Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away," reinforces the reason behind her weeping and seeking Jesus.
What is it that you are currently seeking and your tears will only stop when you find it? Human beings always seek to find and we put a lot of effort to get what we seek.
The Gospel passage tells us that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and later ran to tell Simon Peter and the other disciple who Jesus loved that Jesus is not in the tomb and that she does not know where Jesus has been put making them go with her to the tomb.
This shows her effort in seeking to find Jesus and when the two disciples go back home from the tomb, Mary Magdalene decides to remain outside the tomb because she seeking to find Jesus.
To what length can you go so as to find what you are seeking? The woman who lost one coin out of ten lit a lamp and swept the whole house looking everywhere for the coin until she found it and called her neighbours to celebrate with her while the shepherd who lost one sheep out of a hundred left the other remaining ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness to go and search for the lost one until he found it and called his friends to celebrate with him.
What you do when seeking something shows the worth of what you are looking for and here reconnecting with Jesus is a worthy cause based on what Mary Magdalene does so as to find him.
Is Mary Magdalene seeking something worthwhile or something wonderful when she wants to reconnect with Jesus? We may answer that by seeking this reconnection with Jesus she is seeking something wonderful because she will no longer weep and will deliver the good news of the resurrection to the disciples.
The response of Jesus after revealing himself to Mary Magdalene shows that seeking something worthwhile is better than seeking something wonderful. Mary Magdalene reconnecting with Jesus is something wonderful.
Jesus tells Mary Magdalene," Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father but go to my brethren and tell them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and to your God."
What does this statement mean?
The above statement means that all of which Jesus shared about his relationship with his Father will be for every believer in his ascension and this will only be possible if and when he eventually ascends. Is this not worthwhile? It is worthwhile.
How can we change our wonderful experiences of finding into worthwhile experiences? We can do so by understanding that we seek and later find is not just significant the moment it has been found but it is even more significant when it fulfills its purpose that is why Mary Magdalene had to physically let go of Jesus so that he could fulfill the purpose of ascension and still enable us to continue reconnecting with him even after ascending.
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