Gospel: John 20: 1-9
2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved,
and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don't know where they put him."
Blessings in disguise
By Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD
When Mary Magdalene saw that Jesus disappeared from the tomb where He was laid three days earlier, she announced with great sorrow that “they have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” Poor Mary, she thought that she had lost Him whom she so loved, that the empty tomb showed the emptiness she felt in her being. Yet, the seemingly “stolen body” would appear glorious and triumphant as the risen body of Christ. What appeared at first to be a total frustration and defeat for Mary and the Apostles of Jesus was actually triumph and glory—the Risen Lord.
In the life of workers, similar events happen when many times blessings would seem to be disguised in painful, frustrating or hateful forms or faces. A very strict and demanding boss could be a real pain, but eventually would be one of the significant factors in the success of the worker who would have persevered in the rigors of discipline and perfection in work. How many of us would remember with gratitude our mentors whom we might jokingly call our “tormentors”. Similarly, problematic workers could be taken as liabilities to the companies or they could be considered as challenges with which the company could grow not only financially but also in all other aspects of growth. For the optimist, problems are opportunities. For the realist, “no pain, no gain”.
For the worker who believes in Christ, particularly His resurrection from the dead, the work itself and all the pain and sufferings it entails would not be taken as a curse in life but a blessing which should be received with gratefulness in one’s heart for by it and though it, one could get not only his earthly reward but also a share in Christ’s glory.
Jesus, lover of womankind
By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS
My reflection today veers somewhat towards the place of women in Jesus’ ministry—because it happens to be March, internationally observed as Women’s Month, and today’s gospel mentions the first witness to His empty tomb, a woman.
In the many women-related conferences that I’ve attended as part of my work, I observe that even women who seem psychologically well-balanced, extremely intelligent and high achievers in their fields would still feel that women are but second class citizens in Jesus’ world. They do not seem to see that Jesus loves women as much as the men and would not hesitate to go against the flow to show how much He esteems womankind. They belittle the significance of His encounters with women: engaging in conversation with and asking for water from the Samaritan woman at the well; allowing a penitent woman to wash, perfume and kiss His feet despite objections from an apostle; sparing an adulteress from death by stoning and letting her go with but a gentle admonition to “sin no more”; obliging His mother at a wedding party and changing water into wine although “it is not yet my time”; and choosing to appear first to a woman disciple after His rising from the dead. Things get worse if these intelligent but unbelieving “feminists”, in their “fight for women’s rights”, would make an issue of their perceived biblical injustice and see it as a Church bias against women.
We all need healing—women and men. And, like a boxer in a fight, we can not see and judge properly when the wound on our brow is bleeding. We need to sit still in a corner, let go of our fears, wait for the bleeding to stop, so to speak, and allow His gentle presence to permeate our whole being until we can say with conviction: “The Lord is truly risen!”
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