“My soul clings to You; Your right hand holds me fast.”

Ps 63:9

Mary’s thirst for love

Mary’s attention was undivided: She had lost her Teacher and Lord and nothing could dissuade her from searching for Him. How easy it is for me to become distracted, to lose that love for God who offers His love and affection, protection and guidance through His goodness.

God’s love with humanity is unrequited love, with the exception of the love of His saints. There is no way to know how many saints have lived through the centuries, only that with many, their work goes unrewarded on earth and are not formally canonized.

The desertion of Peter and John

John’s Gospel tells of the sincerity of Peter and John’s love as they race to see the empty tomb. It does not say why they both left thereafter but focuses instead on Mary of Magdala. She stayed and looked for the One she loved the most.

Mary and the Gardener

“For perseverance is essential to any good deed…”

Pope Gregory the Great (540-604 AD)

God looks at our intentions, not the result of our labors because the intentions our inherently ours; the results are His. Try as we might, we have no control over how things turn out.

Mary chose the better part. Her perseverance was the fruit of her love, and the result of her perseverance was finding her Beloved.

So great was her love that even angelic beings didn’t distract her from her search, nor the Man she thought to be the “Gardener.” They were means of obtaining information to find Jesus, and they would not suffice.

Therefore, with the first glimmer of dawn, Mary of Magdala was rewarded with beholding Life Itself, recognizing Him when He called her by name.