Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY
Br. James Michael Dowd, OHC
RCL - Easter Sunday C - Sunday 04 April 2010
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
John 20:1-18
Do Not Hold On To Me (Noli Me Tangere)
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen indeed. Alleluia!
That's just fun to say. What a joyous morning! And how wonderful to be here with all of you. Happy Easter!
Of the eighteen verses of this morning's Gospel Proclamation, “Mary stood weeping outside the tomb” is the one that that struck me first as I prepared this sermon. In the several commentaries I read about this passage from St. John, there is a great debate among Scripture scholars about the fact that Mary Magdalene is weeping. Many seem to believe that her weeping is a sign of a total lack of faith. Others contend that, no, Mary's weeping is simply a sign of a not fully formed faith that will begin to develop later in the passage. The writing about this one sentence goes on and on and I finally had to stop reading so that my head would stop spinning.
When I read that “Mary stood weeping outside the tomb” I read that the same way I read the last passage in which she is mentioned. Remember back to Friday, as soldiers are dividing Jesus' garments, just after nailing him to the cross, we read that “meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” (John 19:25). No doubt she was weeping then as well. All those Scripture scholars seem so concerned about when, or if, Mary Magdalene will come to faith. What they seem to be missing is that she is already living into a deeper commitment to Jesus, because she is living into her love for him.
And as St. Paul tells us, “the greatest of these is love.” Now please don't mistake me for a Gnostic or a Dan Brown type – I'm not talking about Jesus and Mary Magdalene being married or dating or anything else like that. I am talking about a greater love. A love so daring, so bold, that Mary was willing to risk it all to stand there and weep both at the foot of the cross and at the tomb before she knows that Jesus is raised.
We contemporary Christians sometimes get caught up in an understanding of love that is actually based on popular culture, and not on Christianity. We assume that the highest form of love is romantic and that is why, I believe, these ideas about Mary Magdalene have become so popular. But while romantic love can be great, and very life-giving, in our Scripture and in our Tradition, it is God's love for us that is the greatest form of love. And, in return, our love of God and our brothers and sisters, is the highest human expression of that love.
Though there are certainly feelings that are associated with it, love is not a feeling. No, love is an act. It is action. It is a way of being. An act like standing at the foot of the cross. An action like being present to someone who is dying a gruesome death. A way of being that allows you to stand by that person even though there is nothing you can do for them. Our Father Founder, Blessed James Huntington described it this way: “love must act as light must shine and fire must burn.” I might add, as Mary Magdalene weeps.
As Mary is caught up in her grief, wanting so badly to anoint the body of the one she has come to love more than any other, Jesus suddenly appears on the scene, unrecognized by Mary. And he asks her two simple questions: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”
Thinking that he was the gardener, Mary responds that she is looking for the body and asks if he will just tell her where it is. Jesus' response is to simply call her name and with that, Mary's life is forever changed. At the sound of her name being called by Jesus, Mary recognizes him and in her joy and exhilaration reaches out to Jesus in order to embrace him and hold him once again.
But Jesus, backs off, and says to her “do not hold on to me.” I imagine that this could have felt like a rejection and hurt terribly in the moment. But Mary still had something to learn. To date, she had loved Jesus as a man. A great man, no doubt, a great teacher, a great healer, a great friend. But a man. Now, as if in slow motion, the greatest revelation of her life is to take place for she is to begin loving this Jesus of Nazareth as Jesus Christ. He who lived and died, and is once again alive and about to ascend to the Father. This is Christ the King, the Mystical Christ. This is the Triumphant Christ who is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
But there is more for Mary to learn. Jesus' last words to her bear repeating: "Go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” And that, my brothers and sisters, is a major turning point in Salvation History. Jesus is teaching Mary one last eternal truth.
This means a new relationship for Mary. No longer will she have Jesus of Nazareth to learn from, to care for, to love. Now, she will have Jesus Christ in a mystical relationship of love that will be made manifest in prayer. The “do not hold on to me” is by no means a rejection, rather it is meant to free Mary so that she can embrace God in God's fullness. For now, called into a sisterly relationship with Jesus Christ, she can begin to know God as her Father through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And this is one of the gifts of the Resurrected Christ to each of us. We are called into that same mystical relationship of prayer with our God. We are called into a brotherly or sisterly relationship with Christ in order to be remade in Christ's image. The Eastern Church calls this: theosis. That is, complete union with God. God intends to, quite literally, be our Father. The complete union with God occurs when we are joined, by the Holy Spirit, into brother or sisterhood with the Resurrected Christ.
I find it interesting that in the Western tradition, it is believed that Mary Magdalene left Palestine not long after Jesus ascended, with Lazarus and Martha settling in southern France. Not a bad idea, if you ask me. Lazarus and Martha went on to evangelize that part of the world, while Mary took up residence in a cave and became the first contemplative. No doubt, learning to love Jesus Christ while not holding on to him, but, in fact, forming a deeper union with him, moment by moment, day by day, prayer by prayer.
To study the historical Jesus is a valuable thing and the base line of learning the Scriptures. That can happen by reading commentaries and taking classes. But to know the Resurrected Christ is to know God as our Father, our brother and our Spirit. It is to know God as the very breath we breathe. And that can only happen by not holding on to the historical Jesus, but by coming to know the Resurrected Christ in Glory, which is done in our lives through prayer, meditation, Lectio Divina and daily Eucharist. Brother Andrew spoke to us on Friday about how often we resist really becoming like Jesus. And indeed, we do. It is hard work, work that can lead us down paths we would have never imagined for ourselves. Paths like the one that led to Calvary.
But, in fact, that self-giving over to theosis, complete union with God, is what we are called to do. And that is why we are called to the monastery. And I believe each one of us, everyone of us in this Church has been called to this monastery on this Easter morning; some for life, some for the weekend, others just for the day, but all of us called to come to know Christ in his Resurrected Glory so that we can learn to call Christ our Brother and God our Father.
When we love as Mary Magdalene did, standing there weeping; as Jesus did, hanging there on that cross, we will continually be called into a deeper and deeper love of God just as Mary was. That call to conversion never ends, that's why Benedictine monks take a vow to dedicate our lives to constant conversion. We are called to love more and more deeply; so that, in time, we become pure love, just as Christ is pure love.
My sisters, my brothers, take Christ's invitation to Mary as your own. Let go. Don't hold on any longer, and when Christ asks you: “Whom are you looking for?” Let him know that you seek your Brother and your Father. When we do that, we will be able, like Mary, to weep no more, for we will have seen, and come to know, the Resurrected Lord.
AMEN. ALLELUIA.
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