RBWords

     It is amazing how much theology and meaning can be crammed into a single incident!  Upon consulting Fr. Raymond Brown's magisterial commentary on the Gospel of John, I was faced with pages of dense and rich material about this scene!  The best I can do is to point out the "dramatic" features that always appeal to me in this gospel and some possible echoes.  Then I leave it to you, Beloved Congregation to read it and ponder it!

     The consistent pattern in the Gospel of John in Jesus' encounters with various persons [e.g. the Samaritan Woman at the well] is that people don't "get it" right away and a dialogue is required for the person to understand or identify Jesus.  So, Mary Magdalen does not recognize Jesus right away when he speaks to her in the garden.  The standard "rule of three" in story telling applies as well.  She only recognizes him on the third time when he calls her by name, "Mary!"  Is this an "echo" of Jesus' teaching in John 10, when he speaks of his flock hearing his voice when he calls them by name?  Is Mary's effort to "cling" to him a sign that she still does not recognize his new way of being - a resurrected Christ and not the Rabbi?  However, when Jesus gives her a message to bring to the "brothers," she goes and says, "I have seen the LORD!" and then delivers the message.

     We Dominicans revere Mary Magdalen as the first preacher, in no small part because of this story in the Gospel of John.  Our Dominican sisters are very much aware of this and many seek to be more directly active in the preaching charism of the Order of Preachers.  The same is true of our Dominican Laity.  However, the commission comes to all of us as baptized persons.  In this case, they [and all of us] may have to convince the "brothers" (the apostles or their successors) that they do have a message and indeed have "seen the Lord!"  AMEN