Thursday, April 13 : Saint Ambrose

“Why are you weeping?” You yourself are the cause of your tears, you are the one who makes yourself cry…You cry because you do not believe in Christ: believe and you will see him. Christ is there; he never misses out those who look for him. “Why are you weeping?” Tears don’t serve you any good; you need to have faith, a living faith and worthy of God. Do not think about mortal things and you will stop crying…Why should you be weeping for what makes others rejoice? “Whom are you looking for?” Can’t you see that Christ is the strength of God, that Christ is the wisdom of God, that Christ is holiness, Christ is chastity, Christ is purity, Christ was born of a Virgin, Christ comes from the Father and is with the Father and is always in the Father; born and therefore not created, not rejected but always loved, true God from true God? “They have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they laid him” You are mistaken, woman; you think that Christ has been taken away from the tomb by others and you do not believe that he has risen by his own power. But nobody can take away the power of God, nobody takes away the wisdom of God, nobody can take away his venerable chastity. Christ is not taken away from the tomb of the just man nor from the intimacy of the Virgin nor from the secrecy of her faithful soul; and even if there were someone who wanted to take him away, they could not take him away. So the Lord tells her: “Mary, look at me”. As long as she does not believe, she is called “woman”; when she begins to turn towards him she is called “Mary”. She receives the same name as the one who gave birth to Christ; for it is the soul that spiritually gives birth to Christ. “Look at me”, he says. Whoever looks at Christ, amends their life; we lose our way when we do not look at Christ. Therefore, as she turns around, she sees him and says: “Rabbouni, which means Teacher”. The one who looks, turns around; the one who turns around, is able better to lay hold; the one who sees, progresses. This is why she calls “Teacher” the one she thought was dead; she found the one she thought was lost.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team