Here’s a meditation from my book A Man Like No Other 2 – also found in the Lectionary-themed equivalent A Most Amazing Man (Year A) – focusing on Mary Magdalene’s meeting with the risen Christ.
I was distraught
Read
But Mary 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 round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it
was Jesus. John 20:11–14
The meditation of Mary Magdalene
I was distraught,
eyes blinded by grief,
heart numb with sorrow,
for I honestly believed they’d taken away his body
and I’d never see Jesus again.
All right, he was dead,
so what does it matter, you say?
But it did to me,
for I wanted to pay my respects,
to gaze on that gentle face,
that lovely man,
just one more time.
I wanted to remember him at peace,
not groaning on a cross;
to see him laid to rest
and know his suffering was truly over.
And now, it seemed, I was to be denied even that,
his corpse stolen like some grisly trophy,
pursued to the last by his enemies.
It all but finished me,
and I broke down in tears,
conscious of nothing and no one but my grief.
Not even those strangers in the tomb could shake me from it –
my only thought being that someone had taken away my Lord,
and I’d no idea where they’d laid him.
No point looking, I thought –
he was gone,
lost to us for ever.
But I was wrong –
wonderfully, gloriously wrong –
for I’d no need to find him at all:
he found me!
Prayer
Risen Lord,
with hearts ablaze,
filled with praise and wonder,
we celebrate the truth that death is not the end;
that you rose from the grave,
opening the way to life for all.
With a song on our lips,
heartfelt hymns of joy and thanksgiving,
we celebrate the fact that love is stronger than hatred,
good greater than evil,
and light mightier than darkness.
With laughter in our eyes,
sparkling with faith and hope,
we celebrate the proof that sorrow will turn to joy,
hurt to wholeness
and defeat to victory.
With gratitude deep within,
filling body, mind and spirit,
we celebrate the assurance that your kingdom will never end,
your purpose never fail
your love never fade
and your mercy never be exhausted.
Gladly, we worship you.
Amen.