There is a question at the heart of today’s Gospel.
It is only one word.
“Why?”
Jesus asks Mary Magdalene:
“Woman, why are you weeping?”
That is a question many people ask.
Why do we weep?
Why do we grieve?
Why do we suffer?
Why does death hurt so much?
Mary Magdalene knows the answer.
Because she loves.
Only people who love truly grieve deeply.
She has not come to the tomb out of curiosity.
She has come because her heart is broken.
The One who changed her life has died.
Or so she thinks.
The Gospel is full of irony.
Mary is searching for Jesus.
But Jesus is standing right beside her.
She is looking directly at Him.
Yet she does not recognise Him.
She mistakes Him for the gardener.
How often that happens in our own lives.
We pray:
“Lord, where are You?”
Yet He is already at work.
We ask:
“Why have You abandoned me?”
Yet He has never left us.
Our eyes see only loss.
Faith sees something more.
The first reading captures Mary’s longing perfectly.
“Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves.”
Notice those words.
Not simply:
“The one I admire.”
Not:
“The one I respect.”
“The one my soul loves.”
Christianity begins there.
Not with rules.
Not with arguments.
Not even with doctrines.
It begins with love.
A person who has encountered Christ.
Mary Magdalene had encountered Him before.
The Gospels tell us that Jesus had delivered her from evil.
He had restored her dignity.
He had given her a new life.
She had not forgotten.
That is why she stays.
The other disciples go home.
Mary remains.
Love keeps her there.
Then comes one of the most beautiful moments in all of Scripture.
Jesus says only one word.
“Mary.”
That is all.
Not a long explanation.
Not a great miracle.
Simply her name.
Immediately she recognises Him.
Why?
Because the Good Shepherd calls His sheep by name.
There is something deeply personal about Christianity.
God does not merely love humanity.
He loves persons.
He knows names.
He knows faces.
He knows stories.
He knows yours.
The risen Christ calls Mary by name.
He calls each one of us by name.
Everything changes in that moment.
Mary arrives weeping.
She leaves proclaiming.
She comes searching for a dead body.
She leaves having met the living Lord.
She becomes the first witness of the Resurrection.
The first person sent to announce the greatest news the world has ever heard.
That is why the Church calls her the “Apostle to the Apostles.”
The Apostles would preach the Resurrection to the world.
But first Mary Magdalene preached it to them.
Notice something remarkable.
God entrusts the first announcement of Easter not to Peter.
Not to John.
Not to one of the Twelve.
But to a woman whose past everyone knew.
Why?
Because the Gospel has never been about perfect people.
It has always been about transformed people.
Mary’s past did not disqualify her.
God’s grace had rewritten her future.
That should fill every one of us with hope.
Whatever our past may be, Christ’s mercy is greater.
Yet Jesus also says something unexpected.
“Do not cling to me.”
Mary cannot remain standing beside the empty tomb forever.
She has a mission.
She must go.
She must tell the others.
Every genuine encounter with Christ leads to mission.
We cannot keep the Resurrection to ourselves.
If Christ is truly alive…
The world needs to know.
Our families need to know.
Our children need to know.
Our friends need to know.
St Mary Magdalene reminds us that Christianity is not simply knowing about Jesus.
It is knowing Jesus.
There is a great difference.
Many people know facts about Christ.
Only disciples know His voice.
Only disciples recognise Him when He calls their name.
Perhaps that is the question for us today.
When was the last time we sought Christ as Mary sought Him?
Not out of duty.
Not out of habit.
But because our souls longed for Him.
When was the last time we remained with Him in prayer instead of rushing away?
When was the last time we allowed Him to call us personally?
The world tells us that happiness is found in success.
In possessions.
In comfort.
Mary Magdalene teaches us something different.
True joy begins when we hear Christ call our name.
Because only then do we discover who we really are.
Not abandoned.
Not forgotten.
Not alone.
But known.
Loved.
Redeemed.
Called by name.
So today let us ask St Mary Magdalene to obtain for us her love for Christ.
May we seek Him with all our hearts.
May we recognise His voice when He calls us.
And may we leave this church as she left the garden—
not merely having heard about the Resurrection,
but having encountered the risen Lord,
ready to tell the world:
“I have seen the Lord.”
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 