At the crucifixion there was utter confusion among the disciples as they fled in every direction.

But the Magdalene went searching for Christ. Did she understand what Christ had foretold more than the other disciples? Probably not, but she stood without fear of the world, without fear of whomever she had to face, just to be near the one she hoped in. And without understanding, being as confused as the other disciples, she continued to hope — somehow hoping and trusting that His words would prove true. In an ancient Easter sequence we here:  “Tell us, Mary, what did you see on your way?”  The Magdalene responds, “I saw the tomb of the living Christ and his glory as he rose… Christ my hope has risen.” When Mary encounters Jesus he speaks her name and her trust is rewarded.  Do we hear Jesus speaking our names in the midst of all that our world fills us with? When we doubt, are on the threshold of despair do we search for Christ or lose faith in hope and turn away from God and where he has called us in our vocation. Hope is a free gift given without cost to us; it requires a waiting in silence, and in that silence coming to know God. Pope Benedict in his encyclical on hope, Spe Salvi, says the answer to what hope is can be found in the answer given in the Letter to the Ephesians. The holy father said, “The Ephesians, before their encounter with Christ, were without hope because they were ‘without God in the world.’ To come to know God—the true God—means to receive hope.”

Jesus’ speaking Mary’s name removed her fears, her doubts, she came to know him in a deeper sense. This encounter restored more than just her teacher, it restored her very soul. Whatever Christ has to say to us we need to listen for. Then we need to respond to his mercy.

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