http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veX0HNgkkZw
Early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women went to anoint the body of Jesus– but the body wasn’t there. They ran back to tell the Apostles in hiding; the apostles ran to the tomb and found it empty as the women had said.
Why wasn’t He waiting by the tomb to tell them the good news Himself?
Surely, He had gone to tell His mother first.
Christ was the perfect Son. He would never have left Miriam in grief for any longer than she had to be. Now that His agony was over forever, He went to heal her. The angel rolled away the stone, the guards became like dead men, and the Son went to Miriam without delay.
Heaven came to her, at sunrise on the first day of the week. The first person to hear the news that Emmanuel had come was the first person to hear the news that all was now accomplished. The one whose womb contained Heaven was the first to learn that the gates of death were smashed and the doors of Heaven open. The woman by whose consent Christ came into the world, now beheld Him risen from the dead. She carried the Lord beneath her heart for nine months; she birthed Him in Bethlehem when she was homeless. She brought the long-awaited Messiah to the faithful in the temple on the eighth day. She was the first to reveal Christ to the pagan nations when the astrologers came. She fled with Him over four hundred miles and raised Him in hiding. She sought Him in the temple and believed Him when she could not understand. She followed Him as His most faithful disciple, right up to the foot of the Cross. Early in the morning on the first day of the week, she saw Him again, and her joy was beyond all telling.
There could never be a wound so deep that Heaven could not heal it– not even the seven wounds in the heart of Miriam.
Miriam who received the terrible prophecy from Simeon was healed.
Miriam the refugee was healed.
Miriam the mother of a lost child was healed.
Miriam the mother of a condemned man was healed.
Miriam at the foot of the Cross was healed.
Miriam who mourned and could not be consoled was healed.
Miriam who lost her only Son to the tomb was healed.
All sorrow turned to joy now. Miriam beholds the Son she merited to bear, arisen as He promised. Miriam embraces Him again and feels His heart beat, just as when He was an infant. Miriam wonders at His wounded hands no longer in pain, and Miriam’s wounds are healed forever.
Love descended from Heaven to earth without change, through the body of the Virgin. Love was tortured to death by the world before the Virgin’s eyes. Early in the morning on the first day of the week, the Virgin beheld Love risen from the dead, never to die.
She had suffered with Him, blow for blow. Now, her heart rose from the dead at the sight of Him.
Miriam, the most faithful Disciple, beheld the Risen Lord.
Miriam, the Cause of our Joy, was filled with the joy of Heaven.
(image via Pixabay)
Steel Magnificat will be meditating on the Sorrows and Joys of Mary throughout Saint Philip’s Fast. Previous entries can be found here:
The First Joy The First Sorrow
The Second Joy The Second Sorrow
The Third Joy The Third Sorrow
The Fourth Joy The Fourth Sorrow
The Fifth Joy The Fifth Sorrow
The Sixth Joy The Sixth Sorrow
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