Today Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of John (20: 11-18) in which Mary, weeping outside the tomb of Jesus, does not recognise him when she encounters him.

Fr Paul says, again, this is a scene of hesitation and partial recognition.

One wonders if this hesitation is stressed in order to emphasise how far beyond all human possibility was the Resurrection of Jesus, and also how firm the disciples were in their conviction that Jesus was dead?

This unwillingness to believe makes the disciples subsequent faith in the Resurrection all the more convincing. In this scene there is also the strong hint that the act of faith in the Resurrection, involves also love, the heart, as well as the intellect.

Whether this is Mary of Magdala who wept at Jesus’ feet or whether this is only a Christian interpretation, remains unclear. But the intimacy of the meeting shows that she is surely a figure of love. She was one of the few who not only followed Jesus as a supporter, but she also stuck it out to the end at the crucifixion and now the resurrection.

For our prayer today, Fr Paul asks us to think of all the things around us that people said was totally and utterly impossible and, yet now is possible.