These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.

EASTER TUESDAY

And the two angels said to Mary of Magdala, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them,
“They have taken my Lord,
and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this,
she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.
(Jn 20:13-16)

In the early church, Mary Magdalene was called the “Apostle to the Apostles” and sometimes the “Equal to the Apostles.” She was the first to see the Risen Lord, the first to receive the apostolic mission: Go and Tell. It was Mary Magdalene who went to the tomb, and because she was there the Easter Good News was proclaimed: Go and Tell.