Jesus’ Apostles and disciples got used to being with Him with an unparalleled intimacy: they were able to see and hear Him be near Him, even touch Him.
After His burial, some women disciples went to sepulcher early Sunday morning. And there, Mary Magdalen encounters the Resurrected Jesus!
Upon recognizing Him, she touched Him, but not only to convince herself that He was real. She apparently must have tried to hold on to Him, to keep Him from ever leaving again. This we can infer from Jesus’ words to her. “Noli me tangere”: “Do not cling to me.” (John 20:17-18)
Jesus tells her why: He has to ascend to the Father. That is, He cannot stay on earth as before. “I am ascending to my Father and your Father”; as if to say: “Do not suppose I am leading an earthly life; for if you see Me upon earth, it is because I have not yet ascended to My Father, but I am going to ascend shortly.” (Saint Thomas Aquinas)
And He also gave her an order: “Go to my brothers, and tell them”.
Now, let us compare the separation from Christ the disciples suffered upon His death with the separation we are suffering not being able to receive the Eucharist during this pandemic.
Let’s use then this time of fasting from Communion as time for preparation. The resurrected Jesus challenges us, just like Mary Magdalene, to stop weeping for the “good’ol” times, the times of comfortable faith when Catholics were “domesticated” by the culture of tolerance. On the contrary, it is time to tell the world about our Faith, particularly about the Eucharist, and to shout this out loud, if necessary.
Just as this world will not be the same after coronavirus, we cannot accept the same lukewarm faith as before. Let’s use this Easter period to resurrect our faith and set the world on fire for the love of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Don’t let this momentary separation be wasted by trying to go back to the good’ol times. Let’s heed His call to “go to the brothers and tell them”.
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