He is Risen!

There is so much out there on trustworthy, scholarly and reverent Catholic blogs this Easter. Here is a sample of what I mean (from The Sacred Page):

Most people know that Jesus died for their sins. But, as we shall see, according to the New Testament Jesus also rose for our salvation. This aspect of the biblical message is often neglected. The emphasis on usually on the cross. In fact, the resurrection for many people doesn't figure into their understanding of salvation very much. For most the resurrection is little more than "confirmation".
Yet a close look at Scripture reveals that the Resurrection is more than that! As Paul makes it clear, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead "your faith would be in vain" (1 Cor 15:14).
The work of salvation did not end at the cross. The Resurrection is part of Christ's work of salvation.

You can find the rest of this post at The Sacred Page,  a blog written by three Catholic Ph.D.s who are professors of Scripture and Theology: Michael Barber, Brant Pitre and John Bergsma. 

Or, over at Whispers in the Loggia there is a transcript of Pope Benedicts's Easter Vigil Homily. Here is part of it:

At the Easter Vigil, the journey along the paths of sacred Scripture begins with the account of creation. This is the liturgy’s way of telling us that the creation story is itself a prophecy.

It is not information about the external processes by which the cosmos and man himself came into being. The Fathers of the Church were well aware of this. They did not interpret the story as an account of the process of the origins of things, but rather as a pointer towards the essential, towards the true beginning and end of our being.

Now, one might ask: is it really important to speak also of creation during the Easter Vigil? Could we not begin with the events in which God calls man, forms a people for himself and creates his history with men upon the earth?

The answer has to be: no. To omit the creation would be to misunderstand the very history of God with men, to diminish it, to lose sight of its true order of greatness. The sweep of history established by God reaches back to the origins, back to creation. 

How about this wonderful reflection from The New Theology Movement. Here is part of it:

We know that no one saw Christ rise from the dead because St. Mark tells us the he appeared first to Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9), but we know that the Magdalene did not see the Resurrection for, when she arrived at the tomb, Christ had already risen from the dead. Therefore, if Mary did not see Christ rise, neither did any other. The Catechism puts it thus: "No one was an eyewitness to Christ's Resurrection and no evangelist describes it." (CCC 647)

Jesus rose in the very first rays of the dawn, moments before the women had arrived.

It is not the risen Christ which terrified the guards, but the angel. And the guards must have been terrified to realize that, though they had kept watch over the sealed tomb all night, yet the body of Christ was no longer inside! When had he risen? They had not seen it! 

For a mystery so great, it is most fitting not that men should see the mystery directly, but that it should be revealed to them by the angels. Nor does this in any way compromise the testimony which the apostles and the other disciples have given of Christ’s Resurrection – for, although they did not see the Lord rise, they did see him risen. Moreover, of all the apostles, who has testified more compellingly of Christ’s Resurrection than St. Paul? Though he never knew Christ in his earthly life, nor did he witness the Lord rise from the dead, nor even did he see Jesus before his Ascension (for it was only by divine dispensation that the Apostle saw the Lord’s glorified body in the physical apparition on the way to Damascus); yet this Saint has been the greatest witness to the truth of Christ’s Resurrection.

  

Mary Magdalene in Art - Feast Day July 22

There are many famous paintings
of Mary Magdalene with a pale
complexion and red hair.
It is an unlikely combination for
a 1st century Middle Eastern
Jewess or Gentile.
Although, women at the time did use
henna on their hair. But the paintings
are beautiful, none the less.

(above left)
by He Qi, Chinese scholar and artist


( near left) - Frederick Sandys 1829 - 1904 born Antonio Frederic Augustus Sands




Sister of St. Lazarus and St. Martha, she is called "the Penitent". St. Mary was given the name 'Magdalene' because, though a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile. St. Luke records that she was a notorious sinner, and had seven devils removed from her.
She was present at Our Lords' Crucifixion, and with Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, at Jesus' empty tomb.


(@left) painting by Bernardo Luini

Fourteen years after Our Lord's death, St. Mary was put in a boat by the Jews without sails or oars - along with Sts. Lazarus and Martha, St. Maximin (who baptized her), St. Sidonius ("the man born blind"), her maid Sera, and the body of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin. They were sent drifting out to sea and landed on the shores of Southern France, where St. Mary spent the rest of her life as a contemplative in a cave known as Sainte-Baume.

She was given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and died when she was 72. St. Mary was transported miraculously, just before she died, to the chapel of St. Maximin, where she received the last sacraments.

Mary Magdalene was well known as a sinner when she first saw Our Lord. She was very beautiful and very proud, but after she met Jesus, she felt great sorrow for her evil life. When Jesus went to supper at the home of a rich man named Simon, Mary came to weep at His feet. Then with her long beautiful hair, she wiped His feet dry and anointed them with expensive perfume.
Some people were surprised that Jesus let such a sinner touch Him, but Our Lord could see into Mary's heart, and He said: "Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved very much."
Then to Mary He said kindly,
"Your faith has made you safe;
go in peace."
(left side) artist: Abraham Janssens

From then on, with the other holy women, Mary humbly served Jesus and His Apostles.
(right) Greek Icon

When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of His cross, unafraid for herself, and thinking only of His sufferings.



No wonder Jesus said of her: "She has loved much."
After Jesus' body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the Sacred Body, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the Body of her beloved Master had been taken. But then the person spoke in a voice she knew so well: "Mary!" It was Jesus, risen from the dead! He had chosen to show Himself first to Mary Magdalene, the repentant sinner.
(left) fresco from Basilica of St. Francis

(below) Mary Magdalene in Penitence c1577 by El Greco




Mary Magdalene in the cave 1876 Jules Joseph Lefebvre









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