On Wednesday, April 30, I joined the members of the Order of Malta, accompanying other brothers and sisters who are struggling with a variety of infirmities (known by the French title “malades”) on the annual pilgrimage to Lourdes, where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette.
On Thursday, May 1, I was honored to preside and preach at the Mass for the members of the Order of Malta and the malades from all over the United States gathered in Lourdes. The Mass was offered in the Rosary Basilica, located just below the original Basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes. We offered the Votive Mass for the Blessed Virgin and the Resurrection of the Lord. The assigned readings for the Mass were: the Book of Revelation 21:1-51a and the Gospel according to Matthew 28:1-10. Below is the homily from that Mass.
On every Easter morning, before the proclamation of the gospel, the Easter Sequence is sung or recited. This ancient Christian song was inspired by the gospel accounts presenting Mary Magdalene as the first witness to the resurrection. The Easter Sequence asks Mary to tell us her story again as she did to the apostles.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
Mary responded:
"The tomb of Christ, who is living,
The glory of Jesus' resurrection;
Bright angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, my Christ my hope is arisen:
To Galilee he goes before you."
This time-honored Easter tradition reveals a sweet insight into the Easter story. Mary’s testimony was profoundly personal, filled with heartfelt affection. “Yes, my Christ my hope is arisen.” The original Latin conveys the same sentiment, “Surrexit Christus spes mea.”
The gospel according to John, recounted differently the same events. Mary lingered at the tomb weeping. Angels came. Then Jesus appeared whom Mary thought was the gardener. Only when Jesus called her by name did she recognized her Lord was truly alive. We can only imagine what that felt like, how that must have affected Mary, to have her name spoken by the Jesus with a voice she recognized and a glorified body to which as a disciple she now belonged.
The gospel according to Matthew, related the explosion of emotions that overcame the women as they rushed from the tomb to the disciples. “Fearful yet overjoyed,” the gospel told us. Similar to the account from John, they met Jesus on the way.
These human, tender details from the resurrection narrative are worthy of our contemplation. These personal, very human moments between Mary Magdalene and Jesus teach us about the nature of Jesus’ resurrected and glorified state. Rising from the dead Jesus did not distance himself from those he loved. He came ever closer to them. Mary felt the nearness and dearness of Jesus: “My Christ. My hope has arisen.”
The first reading from the Book of Revelation illustrated in a startling way the saving consequences of the Lord’s death and resurrection. John was enthralled by a vision that he described in this way: “I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” The culmination of God’s redemptive plan was a wedding feast, the wedding feast of the Lamb.
In his apostolic exhortation on marriage, Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis remarked that salvation history began in the book of Genesis with a wedding, the creation of Adam and Eve, then concluded with a wedding in the Book of Revelation, the wedding feast of the Lamb.
A beautiful way to understand the death and resurrection of Jesus as well as how we participate in the paschal mystery is this prophetic metaphor taken from the Book of Revelation. Jesus betrothed himself to his bride the Church. As Eve was created from a rib of Adam while he slept, so the Church was created and betrothed from the side of Christ pierced by the soldier’s lance while he slept. Through the glorified body of the Lord Jesus, he is wedded to the Church and the Church to him. We are no longer two but one.
This is further revealed by the testimony of the Blessed Mother Mary in the gospel of John. Mary appeared twice in the gospel narrative of John. She is with her Son of the wedding feast of Cana. She is with him again at Calvary, the wedding feast of the Lamb. She is the witness to her beloved son’s betrothal sealed by water, blood, and the spirit.
Understanding this, should not we too tremble fearful and overjoyed as we approach the wedding feast of the Lamb? Should we not echo the affectionate exuberance of Mary Magdalene, “My Christ, my hope, as arisen”? For the Lord Jesus has indeed wedded himself to us and we to him. We become part of the Lord’s body, offered in sacrifice and raised up to eternal life.
As we begin our pilgrimage through the mystery of Lourdes, bring your pains, sorrows, and sufferings to Mary so that she may lead you to her Son, our Lord Jesus. We are not alone in our sufferings. The Lord Jesus suffered for us. He suffers with us, who are members of his mystical body, the Church. He also comes to us as he did to Mary Magdalene, the doubting Thomas, and the disciples on the road to Emmaus. He comes to share his joy, to give us the taste of heaven. Like Bernadette or Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, Therese of Lisieux, and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, let us unite ourselves to the Lord who tenderly calls us by name. He will reveal himself to you as he did for his dear disciple Mary Magdalene in the gospel.
All of creation moans and groans for that moment when all will be one in Christ. Here we begin to taste that goodness intended for all eternity. Here we begin to hear and see the tender Lord who by his blood has made us his own. Believe with resilient joy our communion proclamation, Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.