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FEBRUARY 17
THE TWO BIG QUESTIONS
“But Mary (Magdalene) stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she
bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting
where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at
the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them,
‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid
him.’ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing
there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman,
why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the
gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where
you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She
turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher).” (Jn
20:11-16)
According to the Gospel of Mark, after His resurrection Christ first
appeared to Mary Magdalene (Mk 16:9). The very first words uttered
by the risen Lord, then, are two very consoling questions to a grieving
woman: 1. “Woman, why are you weeping?” and 2. “Whom are you
looking for?”
These are the two big questions He continues to pose to all men and
women, to all of us, on life’s journey, with its tears and its yearnings.
Why are you weeping? And who is it you’re looking for? It took Mary
Magdalene a brief moment to recognize the ultimate, infinite consolation
of these words. But for others of us it can take much longer to realize
that the answer, the risen Lord, is right there in front of me. I can tend to
misdirect my search and look for the answers in the wrong places.
Today let me begin my journey once again, and recognize the Lord’s
loving voice, amidst any of my sorrows or yearnings, asking me: “Woman,
why are you weeping?” and “Whom are you looking for?”
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