Tell my brothers

Today's Scripture

A beautiful mode of prayer for me over the years, is to just read, over and over, the words of Jesus. Just those words from a particular passage. When you start, they initially resound within the context of the Bible story where they reside. But as you ponder over them, they leave the confines of that passage and move into other areas of thinking, and perhaps into areas of your life where you did not yet invite them. This is the place of encounter.

So today, here are the words of Jesus from today's Gospel:

Woman, why are you weeping?

Whom are you looking for?

Mary!

Stop holding on to me,

for I have not yet ascended to the Father.

But go to my brothers and tell them,

I am going to my Father and your Father,

to my God and your God.

I could write for hours on these several lines. I have written much in past years and will put it all together someday, but for today I would ask that we reflect on just the two bolded elements above.

The first is of critical importance. He calls her by name and this is what awakens her to His Presence. It sure helps me that my name is so similar to this, but often, when I need to hear the voice of the Lord, I put my name on His lips and imagine Him starting with "Gary..." Sometimes I can find myself attributing a tone of voice (like a disappointed parent tone - you know the one) but have to honestly ask myself if His voice could ever be anything but loving and understanding toward me. After all, He knows me by name and calls to me like a brother. Let that sink in. The God of the Universe sees me as brother or sister.

Once He has my attention, by calling my name, He says 'go to my brothers and tell them.' In this context (where we start) there is a very specific thing to tell them, but the call for us to go and speak to His brothers about Him is ever present. This is where our boldness gets a start. This is where we build our Jesus vocabulary, this is where we first share the stories of our heart that only those who know 'HIS STORY' would believe. He doesn't send Mary to the masses of people. First they tell their stories to one another. And as we read the Gospel accounts, we learn that they each have their stories.

We too have our stories. They are all important. There is some element of my story with God that is uniquely needed by some person or persons. I have to learn to tell it. Before I can even get to that, I have to be able to speak openly about Jesus, so that I can then speak openly about what Jesus has done in my life.

EASTER CHALLENGE: If you are not already in this regular practice, say something specific about Jesus to someone at your Church. Jesus is Risen, Jesus is so good, I love the way Jesus speaks to Mary in this scene, etc., etc., etc. Talking frequently about the Lord, what He says and what He does brings Him into our everyday mindset. Practice it among 'the brothers'.