BODY LANGUAGE

“One was seated at the head and the other at the foot of the place where Jesus’ body had lain.” –John 20:12

Mass Readings: April 18
First: Acts 2:36-41;Resp: Psalm 33:4-5,18-20,22;Gospel: John 20:11-18

When two angels asked Mary Magdalene why she was weeping, she responded: “The Lord has been taken away” (Jn 20:13). She meant that the Lord’s body was no longer in His tomb. Mary Magdalene was so preoccupied with Jesus’ body that she seemed not to have paid much attention to the “two angels in dazzling robes” (Jn 20:12). When Jesus, Whom she thought was the gardener, asked Mary why she was weeping, she replied that she would carry Jesus’ body away, if He told her where His body was located (Jn 20:15). Then, when Jesus said Mary’s name, Mary grabbed Jesus’ body.

Mary Magdalene loved Jesus and His body. If we are to meet the risen Christ, we must love Jesus in His glorified body in heaven, His body the Church (Eph 5:25), and His eucharistic Body. Let us recognize the risen Jesus through the ministry of Christ’s body the Church and through the breaking of bread (Lk 24:30-31), that is, the Body of Christ.

Love the Church. Love the Mass. Like Mary Magdalene, love the body of the risen Christ.

PRAYER: Father, before I receive the risen Christ in Holy Communion, may I respond with resounding, deep faith to the words of the priest, “the body of Christ.”
PROMISE: “You must reform and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, that your sins may be forgiven; then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It was to you and your children that the promise was made.” –Acts 2:38-39
PRAISE: Praise Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist! “O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine!”