Reflection for Sunday March 31, Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord: John 20:1-9

Gospel: John 20:1-9

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.

So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. 

Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

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Reflection:

How profound is your love for Jesus? Mary of Magdala, Peter and the beloved disciple loved Jesus deeply. Perhaps to say that the three of them were distressed is an understatement when Jesus’ body was buried. They certainly felt that a certain part of them had been taken away from them permanently. For this is how it feels when somebody we love deeply dies.

Therefore by the next day or in the early hours of the next day Mary of Magdala went to the tomb only to find out that Jesus’ body was not there anymore. She told Peter and the beloved disciple about the missing body of Jesus. So racing against time they went to see for themselves the empty tomb of Jesus. 

What does this gospel episode signify to us? Does it tell us that we too should look and long for Jesus? Surely it tells us that we too should have this ever present longing for Jesus. For the simple reason that the moment we long for the Lord we surely would soon find Him.

Jesus is alive and Jesus has risen yet many are not longing for Him. This is the sad truth: many are still not longing for Him. Why? Because many don’t care to share Him and many don’t care to live His teachings.

Let us therefore be different from those who don’t care to share Jesus. Let us humbly share the Resurrected Christ through our words and through our way of life. So that through us many will be enlightened and be blessed by our Risen Savior.

Would you care to share the risen Christ or you will continue to keep Him within you? – Marino J. Dasmarinas