Eventide & Altar

My soul clings to you; your right hand holds me fast. The psalm could have been written by Mary Magdalene at the tomb. She sought him in the dark. She asked strangers where he was. She stood weeping outside an empty place. And then - barely had I left them when I found him. The finding comes after the seeking that does not stop.

Your love is better than life. This is the conclusion of the woman who came to the tomb in the dark, who stayed when the others left, who wept, who kept looking into what appeared to be nothing. The love she carried to the tomb was not the most rational thing she could have done. It was better than life.

The Glorious Mysteries begin with the Resurrection - the moment Mary Magdalene's name was spoken and she turned. Pray them tonight in Mary's posture: seeking, staying, receiving the name.

• For those at an empty-looking place tonight - the tomb that seems to have nothing left in it - that they would hear their name spoken and turn, we pray to the Lord.
• For those sent to tell others what they have seen - who have been given the I-have-seen-the-Lord announcement and haven't yet made it - that they would go and say it, we pray to the Lord.
• In this Precious Blood month, for the Precious Blood that Mary Magdalene sought to anoint and found had already conquered death, we pray to the Lord.

Before sleep tonight: say out loud - to God, alone if needed - "I have seen the Lord." Say the one specific moment when that was true for you. It doesn't have to be dramatic. Mary Magdalene's moment was her name said by a gardener.