July 22, 2026

Fr. John Riccardo

Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”… (John 20:18).

Picture the scene: it’s the first day of the week. Maybe 7:00 a.m. — 8:00 at the latest. Easter Sunday morning. Only, nobody knows it’s Easter. Well, almost nobody. One human being on the face of the entire planet does: Mary Magdalene. (OK, maybe two human beings do, if the saints are right that the first person the risen Jesus shows Himself to is His mother.)

Quick review, Mary Magdalene shows up a grand total of … zero times in the Gospel of John before Calvary, that is to say, before the crucifixion of Jesus . Zero! In Matthew, Mark and Luke, she similarly shows up zero times before Calvary, with the exception of Luke 8, where the evangelist lists her among the women who accompanied Jesus and helped provide for him and the disciples. Oh, and Luke also mentions that Mary was someone from whom Jesus drove out seven demons. Could you possibly find a more surprising, more unlikely, more potentially unbelievable person to announce to the disciples that Jesus — who just a few hours ago was naked, nailed to a cross, ripped to shreds by the Roman soldiers, crowned with thorns — is alive?

Now, try to imagine the sounds on that Easter morn. Imagine Mary’s breathing as she runs at full speed the moment our Lord commissions her to go and tell His brothers the news. Imagine the joyful, tearful, indescribable laughter that must be falling from her mouth as she tries to process the unprocess-able. Imagine how she pounds ceaselessly on the door of the Upper Room, even after whichever of the apostles finally opens it. Imagine as she gasps for breath and then the tone of voice with which she announces the words that will forever change the history of the human race: He! Is! ALIVE!!!!!!

On this great feast of the one the Church hails as “the apostle to the apostles”, these are the things I’m praying with, asking the Holy Spirit who dwells in me, and who was there that day, to help me to see and hear. I’m also contrasting what I see and hear in the Spirit with a prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours: Lord God, You have given us the great day of rejoicing: Jesus Christ, the stone rejected by the builders, has become the cornerstone of the Church, our spiritual home. Shed upon Your Church the rays of Your glory, that it may be seen as the gate of salvation open to all nations. Let cries of joy and exaltation ring out from its tents, to celebrate the wonder of Christ’s resurrection.

As I place these side by side — the event of Mary Magdalene running into the Upper Room and the prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours — I can’t help but wonder, “What do those who do not know Jesus hear when they listen to us in the Church?” Do they hear “cries of joy and exaltation” ringing out? Do they hear celebration? Do they hear the rejoicing that is appropriate for those who know that Death has been defeated and holds no more power over us? Do they hear the rejoicing that is appropriate for those who know Sin has been defeated and that we are able to begin all over again? Do they hear the rejoicing that is appropriate for those who know they are loved, seen and known by the One who created the universe out of nothing and has become Man to fight for them and rescue them?

Or do they hear…nothing that particularly stands out, or worse that sounds more or less like the rest of the world?

Let us ask Mary Magdalene to intercede for us on this great feast day. Let us ask her to pray that we may be awed, stunned, shocked and more as if for the first time by the news she was blessed to announce. And let us pray that the joy that flows from knowing the reality of the resurrection of Jesus, and all that it entails, may be heard in our individual and collective voices as the Church by those still living the nightmare that is life apart from God.

What Do They Hear When They Listen to Us?

The Atmosphere In Which We Live