Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
To celebrate Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Jesus at his tomb, the church offers us the 33rd psalm with the refrain, “The Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” Surely both Christmas and Easter raise our “ecological awareness” as we feel a surge of vitality during these holy seasons. If the world is filled with the promise at Christmas, Easter find us and the world around us flowing, flowering and flourishing in grace.
The story of Mary Magdalene begins with her waiting by the Lord’s tomb. How could she know why she was there or what she might be waiting for? His Resurrection is beyond anyone’s imagination. But she could not keep herself away. Nor can we stay away from our faith and its practice. Our faith, hope and love keep drawing us back in spite of everything. As the psalmist says,
“Our soul waits for the Lord who is our help and our shield.”
There are so many times when the dominant culture challenges our faith and we have no words that make sense to them. They stare at our crucifixes and wonder at our crosses. Or worse, they attempt well-intentioned pop-psychology explanations for our religious impulse. They forget it is they who have suppressed their religious instincts in favor of sterile rationality. We're simply doing what comes naturally to anyone who sees clearly. Can we not weep at the death of Jesus? Can we ignore the mystery of his empty tomb? Can we be bothered with angels when the Lord has been crucified?
The Magdalene’s love is open, passionate, and intense. It is intense love which draws her irresistibly to the empty tomb where she stands paralyzed with grief. And that same love will throw her arms around his risen body and cling to him.
She is like the Earth itself which wraps the Risen Lord in the damp air of morning and holds his body in the tight embrace of gravity. It is fertile like the springtime, ready to bear witness to a million souls of God’s fecundity, because
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
You said it! In spite of everything, faith, hope and love draws me - us - into this relationship with the Risen Lord. Sometimes I fight it. I don't want to go on. But He always draws me back. I can't live or breathe without Him.
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