Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, “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.
Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.’”
Mary went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he had told her.
John 20:11-18

Prayer

Dear Father we read of the account of Mary being one of the first to see the Risen Lord and his admonishment to not hold onto him as he has yet ascended to you. But he tells her to go and tell the disciples what she has seen and she does. What beautiful faith and trust in Jesus we see in this telling. May we too come across the Risen Christ and announce that we have seen the Lord and proclaim his undying love for us. Amen

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce the news to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee,
and there they will see me.”

While they were going, some of the guard went into the city
and told the chief priests all that had happened.
The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel;
then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
telling them, “You are to say,
‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’
And if this gets to the ears of the governor,
we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.
And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.
Matthew 28:8-15

Prayer

Dear Father how truly amazing it is that you brought your Son back to life just for us. And yet we read of the account of the counsel attempting to cover up the truth with lies. I pray that the truth will always be present in our lives when it comes to your Son Jesus. After all he is the way, the truth, and the life. Amen

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.
John 20:1-9


Prayer

Dear Father these past days we mourned the loss of the beloved one. Today we rejoice in his resurection from the dead where he went to the very depths of hell to free us from sin and evil. Again I say, He is Risen, rejoice for no greater love will ever be found than that of our Savior Jesus Christ. Awake in my heart the eyes of faith to see your shining presence in my journey to eternal life. Amen

Jesus came down with the twelve
and stood on a stretch of level ground
with a great crowd of his disciples
and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
"Blessed are you who are poor,
for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false
prophets in this way."
Luke 6:17, 20-26

Reflection:
The beatitudes say a lot! It is mainly for those who have faith and suffer for it. And on the other extreme a warning to those without it.

We all have at one point or another in our lives had much in the way of wealth, how filled we are because we are able to get it. How easily it is to laugh because of no worries of how, when, and where we will survive. How well people speak of us and all that we have done.

What reward will they receive? Will they be blessed? From this we are the one's who will bemoan our fate, for it says woe to us.

And on the other hand we have the poor, the hungry, the tearful, the hated ones, they will reap far greater than those who have it all because of what they suffer in spirit for their faith. How wonderful it is to be mocked, hated, excluded, and insulted because of being different than others. Then we know we have a far greater reward than those who have. For ours is in heaven, where as theirs may be not of heaven but of hell. A difference in rewards if you ask me.

Is your spirit poor because people do not understand your faith? Then take heart and rejoice!