It was an electrifying moment, unequaled in the annals of human history!  A desolate woman wept by an empty tomb.  Who could have taken His Body?   Suddenly, Someone stood by her asking: “Woman, why are you weeping?  Whom do you seek?”  Thinking He was the gardener, she pleaded:  “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”   

 

    In these days of deceitfully distorted Gospel renditions, it is imperative to know the true Mary Magdalene.  As the Evangelists recorded, Mary Magdalene was a great sinner who became an even greater saint.  Both on Calvary and at the empty tomb, she represented every member of Christ’s Mystical Body.  Why? Because we are a Church of sinners.  Saint John stood on Calvary with both the Sinless Mary and the repentant Mary.  He relates to us the sobering reality that we are all sinners; we deceive ourselves if we claim to be without sin (see 1John 1-8).   Sinners we are.  Yet, like Saint Mary Magdalene we are called to be saints.
   

    The Catholic Church is all about mercy and forgiveness.  The Gospels are teeming with delightful tales of Jesus and His repentant sinners.  Luke tells us of the Prodigal Son who acknowledged his sin and returned to his father’s house.  He expected reprisals and rejection.  Instead, his father was waiting with arms open wide, a ring for his finger, and shoes for his feet.   
   

    Zacchaeus the Tax Collector had stolen millions from rich and poor alike. Short in stature, the repentant sinner climbed a sycamore tree to see Our Lord. Jesus said to him:  “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down for I must stay at your house - - - Today salvation has come to your house for the Son of Man has come to seek and save those who were lost.”      

 

    Peter, the self-described “sinful man,” was chosen by Our Savior to be the leader of the Apostolic Band.  Despite grim warnings, he thrice denied knowing Jesus.   Repentant and remorseful, “Peter went out and wept bitterly.”  Did Our Lord purge him from his privileged place?  No!  Jesus asked Peter one question only:  “Do you love Me?”  Peter responded:  “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You!”  Despite his human frailty, Our Merciful Savior bestowed the Papacy upon Peter.  Sinful Simon became Peter the Rock who held the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven firmly in his hands.   
   

    Let us now revisit Mary Magdalene weeping at the tomb!  No story of repentance surpasses hers.  Mary was young and beautiful, but proud.  She came from a family of pious Jews who adhered devoutly to the Law of Moses. Despite her upbringing, the lure of sin stole the youth away from the God of Abraham.  When finally she sought Jesus in sorrow, He drove seven devils from her.  Never again did Mary leave the Lord.   It was Mary who washed His feet with her tears of remorse.  On Calvary, again at His feet, the Blood of the Lamb flowed down on her head, literally washing away her many sins.
   

    Two days later came that magnificent moment.  When Jesus said: “Mary,” she recognized Him!  Only the merciful Jesus could have said: “Mary,” as He had!  Breathlessly, Mary ran to tell the Apostles: “I have seen the Lord!  He is alive!  He has risen as He said!”  Because Mary Magdalene was the first to announce the Resurrection, Saint Augustine calls her, “The First of the Apostles!”
   

    Divine Mercy, my friends, is alive and well.  When Jesus said: “Mary,” He was calling each of us: “John, Joseph, Gerald, Rita, Theresa, Veronica!”  The Son of God calls us to repentance, individually.  Make no mistake!  No sin or series of sins, no matter how vile or villainous, is too great for His Divine Mercy!   A Priest giving a parish mission astutely observed:  “If you brought to Calvary every sin that was ever committed, it would be liking flinging a burning match into the sun.  The inferno would devour it.   The fiery inferno of God’s infinite mercy consumes our sins completely!”
   

    Prompted by Saint Faustina’s revelations, Pope John Paul II decreed the first Sunday after Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday.  This year, I had the profound privilege of conducting devotions at Saint Ambrose Church in Tucson.  Nearly four hundred people attended.  We sang the Divine Mercy Chaplet, prayed the Rosary, and adored Our Savior in the Blessed Sacrament.  Like the gentle dew falling on the fields, Divine Mercy rained down on all.  We felt it!  We knew it!  Our Divine Savior was true to His word:  “Mercy shall flow from My Heart like an infinite ocean of forgiveness.”   People were in line for Confession for hours.
   

    At times, the seriousness of our sins overwhelms us.  We may fear to seek forgiveness.   Conversely, as Pope Benedict has observed, some have lost the sense of sin.   Sin creates in us a spiritual sightlessness.   Like the Blind Man of Jericho, we must cry out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!  Lord! I want to see!”  He Who opened the Blind Man of Jericho’s eyes instantly, will open ours.   
   

    My dear friends, on Calvary Our Blessed Mother became the Mother of Mercy!   Dear Heavenly Mother!  Grant us the grace of true repentance.  Lead us to the Holy Sacrament of Reconciliation.  With souls cleansed from sin, lead us to your Divine Son in Holy Communion.    The best remedy in God’s world for a troubled conscience is to kneel before a Priest of Jesus Christ and humbly pray: “Bless me Father, for I have sinned!”  Saint Mary Magdalene!  Pray for us!

                                                                                                                                    Father Richard J. Rego, S.T.L.