Day 2
Mary Magdalene
She thought he was the gardener
c. 1609
Grace to ask for
Lord, call me by name the way You called her.
"Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher")."
John 20:16
Composition of Place
Enter the garden early in the morning. Mary Magdalene has come back to the tomb and found it empty. She is weeping. She turns and sees a man she takes for the gardener.
Points for Meditation
She did not recognize him
The Risen Christ is recognizable and unrecognizable at once. Mary does not know him until he says her name. The disciples on the road to Emmaus don't know him until the breaking of bread. Thomas doesn't know him until he touches the wounds. The Resurrection appearances have this character: recognition through encounter, not through observation.
"Mary"
One word. Her name. That is all it takes. He knows her completely — her history with him, her sin forgiven, her love that did not leave the cross, her grief that brought her back at dawn. And she knows him by the way he says her name. This is what the whole Exercises have been preparing for: the capacity to hear your own name called, and to recognize who is calling.
"Do not hold on to me"
"Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father." The relationship with the Risen Christ is different — not less intimate, but different. It is not a return to what was. It is a new way of being with him: through the Spirit, through the sacraments, through the body of the Church, through the poor. Let go of the form of the relationship. Trust the reality.
Colloquy
Ask to hear your name called in the way Mary heard hers. Ask for the simplicity of that recognition — the capacity to turn, to look, to say "Teacher." Ask for the joy of the encounter with the Risen Christ that does not depend on sight.
Remain in silence for a few minutes.
Do not rush to the next exercise.