Scripture Reading: Gospel of John 20: 11-18

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

​

Reflection

Poitiers, March 1715, Marie Louise received this message from Montfort: “Leave as soon as possible, my Daughter…” (L28) Marie Louise is deeply troubled. She faces the opposition of her mother who refuses to let her go. The hospital’s administrators protest also and accuse her of abandoning the poor.

​

Finally, she almost forces Msgr de la Poype to give her the authorization to leave with Catherine Brunet, her faithful companion. After all these heartbreaks and an exhausting journey, their weight of unpleasant surprises continues upon their arrival at La Rochelle: Father de Montfort is no longer there… Like Mary of Magdala, Marie Louise and Catherine feel painfully this absence and, to make matters worse, they find themselves homeless, since the room that was intended for them is already occupied… It is in the darkness of this difficult test of faith that the mission of La Rochelle opens!

​

What obstacle impedes me today to clearly recognize the call of Wisdom for the mission? To what courageous enterprise am I invited?