{"id":30583,"date":"2017-07-22T18:11:23","date_gmt":"2017-07-22T22:11:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=30583"},"modified":"2017-07-23T10:19:53","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T14:19:53","slug":"seeking-the-beloved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/seeking-the-beloved\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeking the Beloved","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
\n for July 22nd, 2017
\n Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
\n Feast of St. Mary Magdalene<\/p>\n

Liturgical texts\u00a0here<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

IT\u00a0<\/b>is always beneath the surface, calling, beckoning, stirring, and leaving me utterly restless. It is the invitation to\u00a0union with God. <\/em>It leaves me restless because I know that I have not yet taken the plunge “into the deep”. I love God, but not yet with my whole heart, soul, and strength. And yet, this is what I am made for, and so… I am restless, until I rest in Him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By saying “union with God,” I don’t mean just friendship or peaceful co-existence with the Creator. By this, I mean the full and entire union of my being with His. The only way to explain this difference is to compare the relationship between two friends versus<\/em>\u00a0a husband and wife. The former enjoy good conversations, time, and experiences together; the latter, a union that goes far beyond words and the tangible. The two friends are like companions who ride the seas of life together… but the husband and wife plunge into the very depths of that infinite sea, an ocean of Love. Or at least, that’s what God intends in marriage<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tradition has called St. Mary Magdalene “the apostle to the Apostles.” She is to all of us too, especially when it comes to seeking union with the Lord, as Mary does, in the following stages\u00a0<\/em>that aptly summarize the journey every Christian must undertake…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I. Outside the Tomb<\/span><\/p>\n

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On the first day of the week,\u00a0Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,\u00a0while it was still dark,\u00a0and saw the stone removed from the tomb.\u00a0So she ran and went to Simon Peter\u00a0and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved… (Today’s Gospel)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mary, at first, came to the tomb seeking consolation, for it is “still dark.” This is symbolic of the Christian who looks not so much for Christ, but for His consolations and gifts. It is symbolic of the one whose life remains “outside the tomb”; one who is in friendship with God, but lacks the intimacy and commitment of “marriage.” It is the one who may faithfully submit to “Simon Peter”, that is, to the teaching of the Church, and who seeks the Lord through good spiritual books, sacramental graces, speakers, conferences, ie. “the other disciple whom Jesus loved.” But it is still a soul who does not fully enter that place where the Lord is,\u00a0in the depths of the tomb\u00a0<\/em>where the soul has not only abandoned all love of sin, but where consolations are no longer felt, the spirit is dry, and spiritual things are tasteless if not repulsive to the flesh. In this “spiritual darkness”, it is as though God is utterly absent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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On my bed at night I sought him\u00a0whom my heart loves \u2014\u00a0I sought him but I did not find him. (First reading)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That is because it is there, “in the tomb”, where one dies entirely to self so that the Lover may give Himself completely to the soul.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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II. At the Tomb<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Blessed are they who mourn,\u00a0<\/em>Jesus said, and again, b<\/em>lessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness.\u00a0<\/i>[1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Matt 5:4, 6<\/span><\/span>