Episode Transcript  

One

The Burial

On the evening of Good Friday, Joseph of Arimathaea asked the Governor, Pontius Pilate, for permission to take Jesus down from the Cross and bury Him properly. Pilate granted the request. So, Joseph took the body of Jesus, cleansed and anointed it, wrapped it in a clean shroud, and put it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock in the garden very near the place of the Crucifixion, only about thirty yards. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away while Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, stayed there, sitting opposite the tomb. (Mt 27:61)

What strikes me is that these holy women stayed at the tomb. How long? Only God knows, but it was not a brief visit. Eventually, they left. Yet Mary Magdalene was drawn back, returning early on Sunday morning. When she arrived and found the Lord’s body missing, she believed it had been taken and ran to tell the disciples. They came, saw the empty tomb, and then went home. But Mary remained. She stayed outside, weeping.

Gregory the Great writes, “We should reflect on Mary’s attitude and the great love she felt for Christ; for though the disciples had left the tomb, she remained. She was still seeking the one she had not found, and while she sought she wept; burning with the fire of love, she longed for him who she thought had been taken away. And so it happened that the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see him…”

Two

Easter – The Moment to Persevere

Peter ran to the Tomb, did not see Jesus and went away unbelieving because he did not remain, he did not watch and pray. Jesus later reprimands the Apostles in the Upper Room for their unbelief. But it was also Peter and the Apostles who would not watch and pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, so they forsook Jesus and fled and the moment of the arrest. 

We must learn the lesson of the Magdalene. She waited, she persevered in prayer, and she was the first to encounter Jesus in His resurrection. Those who learn to remain in prayer will eventually experience the Risen Christ!

I am always amazed and encouraged by the huge crowds at Ash Wednesday for the beginning of Lent. So many people make good resolutions to spend more time in prayer and to remove sinful habits from their lives, go to daily Mass more often and confession. But then Easter comes, and so many of those good spiritual practices end.

Why don’t we persevere, like the Magdalene? 

Three

Resolution for the Easter Season

Lent is forty days. The Easter Season, ending with Pentecost, is fifty days. Why not make a concrete resolution to stay committed to your spiritual practices for the next fifty days rather than going on vacation from them? Persevere like Mary Magdalene. 

Daily Meditation with a resolution is the best practice that keeps us moving forward toward Him. St. John of the Cross offers this encouragement, “Seek in reading and you will find in meditation; knock in prayer and it will be opened to you in contemplation. The further you withdraw from earthly things, the closer you approach heavenly things and the more you find in God.”
(Sayings of Light and Love, 158-159)

Four

Increasing Our Desire 

Those who learn to remain in prayer will eventually experience the Risen Christ! However, it probably will not be immediately. Why does God make us wait?

St. Gregory explains, “When our desires are not satisfied, they grow stronger, and becoming stronger they take hold of their object. Holy desires likewise grow with anticipation…"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" She is asked why she is sorrowing so that her desire might be strengthened; for when she mentions whom she is seeking, her love is kindled all the more ardently.”

Why does God seem to hide himself and make us wait? Because God can only give himself to us in proportion to our desire. Therefore, God makes us persevere in seeking Him to increase our desire so that we receive more of Him. 

When Mary poured the expensive ointment on Jesus on Wednesday, we learned from her to love Jesus extravagantly with our most precious commodity, our time. Give Him time in prayer. Then she teaches us to remain in prayer as she remained at the Tomb today. Persevere in prayer, and your desire will grow, and Jesus will fill you with himself, and your joy will be full. 

Five

Third Day of the Novena to Divine Mercy

Jesus said to St. Faustina, “Today bring to Me all devout and faithful souls, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy.  These souls brought Me consolation on the Way of the Cross.  They were that drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness.”

And Faustina said, “Most Merciful Jesus, from the treasury of Your mercy You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and all.  Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from it.  We beg this of You by that most wondrous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely.”

“The miracles of mercy are impenetrable. Neither the sinner nor the just one will fathom them. When You cast upon us an eye of pity, You draw us all closer to Your love.”

“Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon faithful souls, as upon the inheritance of your Son.  For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection.  Thus may they never fail in love or lose the treasure of the holy faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify your boundless mercy for endless ages.  Amen.”

Suggested Resolutions:

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.

• Persevere like Magdalene and try to maintain the good habits you built up in Lent, whether that’s abstaining from some vice or additional prayer time that you’ve committed to.

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