Monday, April 8 : Saint Gregory the Great

At this point we must stop and reflect upon the ardent love in the heart of this woman who would not leave the Lord’s grave even after his own disciples had gone away. She continued seeking him whom she could not find; in tears she kept searching; and, afire with love, she yearned for him whom she believed had been removed. Thus it happened that she alone saw him, she who had remained behind to seek him, simply because a truly good act involves the virtue of perseverance. For the lips of Truth itself have said: “Whoever perseveres to the end shall be saved” (Mt 10,22)… Holy desires grow with delay: if they fade through delay they are no desires at all. Such must be the love that inflames anyone who is reaching out for the truth. This is why David says: “My soul thirsts for the living God; when shall I come and behold the face of God?” (Ps 41[42],3). And the Church says in the Song of Songs, “I am wounded by love”, and again, “My soul failed me” (Sg 2,5). “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” She is asked the cause of her sorrow so that her longing may increase, for when she names the one she seeks she burns with yet greater love for him. “Jesus said to her: Mary.” First of all he called her by the title common to all her sex, and she did not recognize him. Now he calls her by her own name, as if to say plainly: “Now recognize the one who recognizes you. For I know you, not in some general way along with other people, but personally.” Addressed by her own name, Mary recognizes her maker and straightway calls him “Rabboni”, that is “Teache”. Outwardly it was he who was the object of her search, but inwardly it was he who was teaching her to search for him.
maronite readings – rosary,team