Reflection
Monday of the Octave of Easter
Acts 2:14, 22-33
Ps 16:1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
Mt 28:8-15
Happy Octave of Easter!
Easter joy does not end with Easter Sunday — it overflows into eight radiant days known as the Octave of Easter. Throughout this week, we celebrate Easter Sunday again and again, immersing ourselves in the joy and wonder of Christ’s resurrection.
Today’s Gospel places us with Mary Magdalene, whose faithful love carried her from the foot of the cross, to the silence of the tomb, and finally to the joy of Easter morning. In the midst of grief and fear, everything changes when the angel proclaims that Christ has risen. When Jesus appears, he entrusts Mary with a mission: to tell the Apostles and direct them to meet him in Galilee.
All four Gospels affirm that Mary Magdalene was present at the tomb and was sent to proclaim the good news of the resurrection. For this reason, she is often called The Apostle to the Apostles. Her encounter with the risen Lord transforms her - from witness, to messenger, to missionary.
What might Mary Magdalene and the other women have been thinking as they set out to share this astonishing news? Perhaps they hoped life would return to the way it was before. But an encounter with the risen Christ never leaves us unchanged. When we truly believe that Jesus is raised from the dead, something in us must change. Our joy becomes visible - and it is meant to be shared.
In stark contrast, the religious leaders attempt to deny the truth, fabricating a story to explain the empty tomb. Faced with the same evidence, they choose blindness over belief.
Jesus asks the disciples to meet him in a specific place. Where does he want to meet you? In lingering doubt, in unspoken grief, or in a joy you have not yet trusted? Wherever we are, the risen Lord meets us there - not only to heal us, but to transform and send us forth.
Like Mary Magdalene, we are Easter people - witnesses of joy, sent to proclaim that Christ is risen.
Let us pray: Risen Lord Jesus, you met Mary Magdalene in her grief and turned her sorrow into joy and mission. Meet us where we are today - in our doubts, our wounds, and our hopes. Open our hearts to believe, fill us with Easter joy, and send us forth as witnesses that you are truly risen.
Amen.