Easter Sunday Reflection: The Way – Love Overcomes Violence & Death
Franciscan Reflections From The Hermitage – The Way – Love Overcomes Violence & Death – Easter Sunday – 2024 (John 20:1-11)
An empty tomb… the two men disciples ‘went home again’. They leave Mary the Magdalene, weeping and alone at the tomb, reflecting of the desertion of the men from the crucifixion death scene and of the one whom they called ‘Lord and Master’.
Mary the Magdalene stands alone at the empty tomb, weeping. She is to become the first witness to both the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Apostle to the Apostles, now joyfully restored within our Rites. She stood at the cross and witnessed Jesus’ last agonising breath… she tended to his lifeless body… Now, on this Easter Sunday, she stands deserted and alone at the empty tomb. Bereft of the one she had loved much, she stands weeping at the tomb.
Her love is stronger than death, stronger than fear, and proves today that Love is even stronger than faith. Without love, all else becomes emptiness and pretence. It is this great love of a woman who waits at the empty tomb where she becomes the first witness of the resurrection from the dead.
Today we pray for the courage of Love to stand with Mary the Magdalene … to remember the ones we love … to reflect on those times we have deserted Jesus in our brothers and sisters … seeking also the comfortable and familiar surroundings of home, indulgence, and self-pity. Perhaps today is a good day to reflect on our own death and resurrection … to reflect on that coming great reunion with those we love.
Let us joyfully join in the prayer of True Love, forsaking all those attachments that block the Way of ‘Our Father’. Help me, O Lord, to unclench my hands of the things I think I need in order to be able to grasp hold of what you provide. You are a God of hope… fill me with all joy, gratitude and peace as I trust in you, so that I may overflow with hope and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. It is slow to expose the evils and faults in others. It is eager to believe the best, and it is always hopeful and optimistic concerning the future. Love comes first and is greater even than faith and hope. This is True Love, our union with the source of being that is the greatest power in all the world.
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