For the past 6 weeks we’ve been living Lent. But also for the past 6 weeks, we’ve been walking past square white barriers up and down Park Avenue, including a couple outside our church, that signal sidewalk and light pole improvements that are being renovated by the city.
It is the wording on those barrier signs that have captured my attention these past 6 weeks. It says: something beautiful is coming’. For the city, this means that after all the dust has settled, the pedestrians of Winter Park will enjoy safer sidewalks and brighter lights. However, we Christians might look at that sign and say, after renovating our hearts in Lent, that something beautiful has already come. We call it Easter. Alleluia, Christ is risen, and we’ll continue to celebrate and rejoice this glorious feast during this Easter season.
Something beautiful certainly happened to Mary Magdalen that first Easter morning. She went to the tomb early that day, still weeping from all the terrible suffering and death that happened on Good Friday to her friend and mentor, Jesus. And now, she stands over an empty tomb, making her grief even worse. Where was the body of Jesus? Then, as our gospel says, she turned around and there was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him until he called her name. Can you imagine this woman’s overwhelming joy, unbelievable surprise, and incredible relief at seeing Jesus, fully alive and speaking to her? Yes, the experience of a lifetime and something truly beautiful happened to Mary Magdalen that morning.
But it didn’t stop there for her. Christ then entrusted this one, singular woman who followed him unreservedly, to be the first one to spread the word to the Apostles that He had risen from the dead. Mary Magdalen, the Apostle to the Apostle, went at once, without hesitation, and told them, “I have seen the Lord”. They, like Mary Magdalen, were never the same again. Their hearts and their lives were transformed forever. In the coming days, we will hear how they retold this good news of Christ’s resurrection to others everywhere, especially after receiving the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
We are privileged to be followers and witnesses of Christ, like Mary Magdalen. As Easter people, may we, too, recognize and be renewed by the Lord, so we too can witness to others by our words and deeds, “I have seen the Lord.” This, indeed, is something beautiful.
