The Easter Sequence pointedly asks Mary of Magdala: "Tell us, Mary: say what thou didst see upon the way. The tomb the Living did enclose." And Mary replied: "I saw Christ's glory as He rose! The angels there attesting, shroud with grave clothes resting. Christ, my hope, has risen: He goes before you into Galilee." And this joy of Easter is palpable and infectious. I ask too that I will be privileged like Mary to experience this grace "to be glad and to rejoice intensely because of the great glory and joy of Christ our Lord" (cf. Spiritual Exercises n. 221).

My joy ought to be the joy of Christ and not because of my neediness. Mary was asked by the Lord to go beyond her weeping and grieving. She was asked, "Do not cling to me because I have not yet ascended to the Father." Perhaps often enough, when confronted with losses, we cling to the past and not let ourselves live in the present. And this invitation to live in the present echoes the words our Lord exhorts Mary: "Go and find the brothers and tell them: 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." When we go beyond ourselves to experience the joy of the Lord, we become like Mary of Magdala - an apostle to the apostles! We can proclaim that we have seen the Lord, who is truly risen.