Who are you looking for?

Each day gives us an opportunity to face any challenging situations in our lives. And each day has enough grace for us to survive such circumstances, especially when our hearts long for God’s presence with us. Our hearts and minds continue to wonder about our encounters with Him. Our being is always searching for God.

When Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene outside the tomb on that day of His resurrection. He asked Mary, “Who are you looking for?” Jesus knew that she was seeking His dead body. She was anxious and sobbing once she realised Jesus’ body was not there, that He apparently was lost.  However, when Mary heard Jesus calling her name, she recognized the Master’s voice and His presence. Her sadness turned to joy.

For us, too, when we feel down it is at that moment when we need to undertake much prayer. Prayers make us calm down and help us to lessen the great anxiety in our heart, brought on by negative and unpleasant experiences.  The pain we feel is so intense when we have lost loved ones through death or caused by the loss of a friendship that we treasured.  Sadness envelops our heart. We are clouded in the darkness of our experience and it is hard to deal with it. We need to give ourselves space and wait for the right time to start anew to be able to go beyond these negative feelings. The pain in our heart will most often be there. It will pull us down to the lowest moment of our life.  For some it is so devastating that they cannot recover from it for a very long time. That is why it takes a lot of courage to face the reality of the situation in your life.  We have to undergo the processes of acceptance and to pray a lot. To  humble oneself is to surrender into God’s hands for His help.  Once we are in the period of acceptance, healing memories start and moving on becomes possible, then we recover.

Never live our lives without praying because through prayer we keep holding onto the little faith that we have. Looking up and forward as we accept our circumstances is not so easy. Yet, once we can accept what has been lost, a ray of hope will help us to rise again, to move onward and we have a new beginning.

What joy must have been felt in the heart of Mary when she recognised Jesus.  Her heart was bursting with the fire to immediately proclaim the Good News to the Apostles that she had seen Jesus alive and that He was willing to meet them all. It was an intense feeling of sorrow and an intense feeling of joy.

Searching for Jesus every day of our life will make us active and eager to meet Him. He gives meaning to our life, the reason and the purpose for our living with a joyful hope that He is always there for us.

Who are you looking for?   As Jesus asked this of Mary, so He is asking this of you. Is He the one whom you are seeking as you search for the meaning of your life?

In Jesus’ resurrection, we are joining heaven and earth, rejoicing in His glory among the dead. Let us continue to pray and to have faith:

For God is always here, He is here for us.
In sadness and joy, in sickness and health our God is here.
He dwells in our heart.
He is here in our story.
He is here in each person.
He is here in every creation.

Help us God to see You.
Help us God to feel You.
Help us God to touch You.
Help us God to talk to You.
Help us God to listen to You.
Help us God to taste the goodness of Your love.

In this journey of life you are very close to us.
So help us God.

Image Credit: Jesus resurrected and Mary Magdalene, after Heinrich Hofmann, published on bible card / Public domain