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From: Song of Solomon 3:1-4

Third canto: Nocturne

[1] Upon my bed by night
I sought him whom my soul loves:
I sought him but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
[2] “I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.”
I sought him, but found him not.
[3] The watchmen found me,
as they went about the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
[4] Scarcely had I passed them,
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
until I had brought him into my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

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Commentary:

3:1-5. This canto deals with a second stage of love. It is night-time, in the city;
the lover is absent, and the beloved searches for him until she finds him. The
speaker is the beloved. United in love with the one she loves (v. 5), she looks
back, recalling her first fruitless search (v. 1), and what happened then and her
second failed attempt to find him (v. 2); then, at her third attempt — success (vv.
3-4). The canto in this way describes a trial she has undergone; she overcomes,
thanks to her perseverance. ‘’If you want to stay close to Christ, seek out suffe-
ring and do not fear it. For sometimes Christ is sooner found in the midst of bodi-
ly torments and in the hands of the torturers. Scarcely had I passed them, says
the Song (v. 4). After a very short time, then, you too will he freed from the hands
of those who persecute you, and no longer will you he subject to the powers of
this world. Christ will come out to meet you, and he will not allow temptations to
threaten you for very long. The one who seeks Christ in this way and finds him
can say: I held him, and would not let him go until I brought him into my mother’s
house, the home of the one who bore me in her womb. What are your mother
and your home if not the most intimate and hidden parts of your soul? Keep your
house well guarded; keep the most secluded rooms well cleaned, so that the
Holy Spirit may come to live in an immaculate home [Ã¢Â€Â¦]. The ones who look for
Christ in this way, who ask for him in this way, will never he abandoned by him;
he will come to visit them often because he is with us until the end of the world’’
(St Ambrose, “De virginitate”, 12, 68, 74-75; 13, 77-78).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: 2 Corinthians 5:14-17

The Ministry of Reconciliation (Continuation)

[14] For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has
died for all; therefore all have died. [15] And he died for all, that those who live
might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was
raised.

[16] From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even
though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus
no longer. [17] Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old
has passed away, behold, the new has come.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

14-15. The Apostle briefly describes the effects of Christ’s death, a death he un-
derwent out of love for man; elsewhere at greater length (cf. Rom 6:1-11; 14:7-9;
Gal 2:19-20; 2 Tim 2:11) he goes into this doctrine which is so closely connec-
ted with the solidarity that exists between Jesus Christ and the members of his
mystical body. Christ, the head of that body, died for all his members: and they
have mystically died to sin with and in him. Christ’s death, is moreover, the price
paid for men—their ransom which sets them free from the slavery of sin, death
and the devil. As a result of it we belong no longer to ourselves but to Christ (cf.
1 Cor 6:19), and the new life—in grace and freedom—which he has won for us we
must live for his sake: “None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to him-
self. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord [...]. For to
this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and
of the living” (Rom 14:7-9).

“What follows from this?”, St Francis de Sales asks. “I seem to hear the voice
of the Apostle like a peal of thunder startling our heart: It is easy to see, Chris-
tians, what Christ desired by dying for us. What did he desire but that we should
become like him? ‘That those who live might live no longer for themselves but for
him who for their sake died and was raised.’ How powerful a consequence is this
in the matter of love! Jesus Christ died for us; by his death he has given us life;
we only live because he died; he died for us, by us, and in us; our life then is no
longer ours, but belongs to him who has purchased it for us by his death: we are
therefore no more to live to ourselves but to him; not in ourselves but in him; nor
for ourselves but for him” (”Treatise on the Love of God”, book 7, chap. 8).

“The love of Christ controls us”, urges us: with these words St Paul sums up what
motivates his tireless apostolic activity—the love of Jesus, so immense that it im-
pels him to spend every minute of his life bringing this same love to all mankind.
The love of Christ should also inspire all other Christians to commit themselves to
respond to Christ’s love, and it should fill them with a desire to bring to all souls
the salvation won by Christ. “We are urged on by the charity of Christ (cf. 2 Cor
5:14) to take upon our shoulders a part of this task of saving souls. Look: the re-
demption was consummated when Jesus died on the Cross, in shame and glory,
‘a stumbling block’ to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles (1 Cor 1:23). But the re-
demption will, by the will of God, be carried out continually until our Lord’s time
comes. It is impossible to live according to the heart of Jesus Christ and not to
know that we are sent, as he was, ‘to save sinners’ (1 Tim 1:15), with the clear
realization that we ourselves need to trust in the mercy of God more and more
every day. As a result, we will foster in ourselves a vehement desire to live as co-
redeemers with Christ, to save all souls with him” (”Christ Is Passing By”, 120f).

16-17. “Even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view”: Paul
seems to be referring to knowledge based only on external appearances and on
human criteria. Paul’s Judaizing opponents do look on things from a human point
of view, as Paul himself did before his conversion. Nothing he says here can be
taken as implying that St Paul knew Jesus personally during his life on earth (he
goes on to say that now he does not know him personally); what he is saying is
that previously he judged Christ on the basis of his own Pharisee prejudices;
now, on the other hand, he knows him as God and Savior of men.

In v. 17 he elaborates on this contrast between before and after his conversion,
as happens to Christians through Baptism. For through the grace of Baptism a
person becomes a member of Christ’s body, he lives by and is “in Christ” (cf.,
e.g., Gal 6:15; Eph 2:10, 15f; Cor 3:9f); the Redemption brings about a new crea-
tion. Commenting on this passage St Thomas Aquinas reminds us that creation
is the step from non-being to being, and that in the supernatural order, after origi-
nal sin, “a new creation was necessary, whereby (creatures) would be made with
the life of grace; this truly is a creation from nothing, because those without grace
are nothing (cf. 1 Cor 13:2) [...]. St Augustine says, ‘for sin is nothingness, and
men become nothingness when they sin’” (”Commentary on 2 Cor, ad loc.”).

“The new has come”: St John Chrysostom points out the radical change which
the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ has brought about, and the consequent
difference between Judaism and Christianity: “Instead of the earthly Jerusalem,
we have received that Jerusalem which is above; and instead of a material tem-
ple we have seen a spiritual temple; instead of tablets of stone, holding the di-
vine Law, our own bodies have become the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit; instead
of circumcision, Baptism; instead of manna, the Lord’s body; instead of water
from a rock, blood from his side; instead of Moses’ or Aaron’s rod, the cross of
the Savior; instead of the promised land, the kingdom of heaven” (”Hom on 2
Cor”, 11).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: John 20:1-2; 11-18

The Empty Tomb

[1] Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early,
while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the
tomb. [2] So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one
whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,
and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

The Appearance To Mary Magdalene

[11] But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to
look into the tomb; [12] and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body
of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. [13] They said to her, “Wo-
man, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away
my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” [14] Saying this, she
turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
[15] Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?”
Supposing Him to be gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him a-
way, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” [16] Jesus said
to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means
Teacher). [17] Jesus said to her, “Do not hold Me, for I have not yet ascended to
the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father
and your Father, to My God and your God.” [18] Mary Magdalene went and said
to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that He had said these
things to her.

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Commentary:

1-2. All four Gospels report the first testimonies of the holy women and the dis-
ciples regarding Christ’s glorious resurrection, beginning with the fact of the emp-
ty tomb (cf. Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1ff; Luke 24:1-12) and then telling of the
various appearances of the risen Jesus.

Mary Magdalene was one of the women who provided for our Lord during His jour-
neys (Luke 8:1-3); along with the Virgin Mary she bravely stayed with Him right up
to His final moments (John 19:25), and she saw where His body was laid (Luke 23:
55). Now, after the obligatory Sabbath rest, she goes to visit the tomb. The Gospel
points out that she went “early, when it was still dark”: her love and veneration led
her to go without delay, to be with our Lord’s body.

11-18. Mary’s affection and sensitivity lead her to be concerned about what has
become of the dead body of Jesus. This woman out of whom seven demons were
cast (cf. Luke 8:2) stayed faithful during His passion and even now her love is still
ardent: our Lord had freed her from the Evil One and she responded to that grace
humbly and generously.

After consoling Mary Magdalene, Jesus gives her a message for the Apostles,
whom He tenderly calls His “brethren”. This message implies that He and they
have the same Father, though each in an essentially different way: “I am ascen-
ding to My Father”—My own Father by nature—”and to your Father”—for He is your
Father through the adoption I have won for you and by My death. Jesus, the Good
Shepherd, shows His great mercy and understanding by gathering together all His
disciples who had abandoned Him during His passion and were now in hiding for
fear of the Jews (John 20:19).

Mary Magdalene’s perseverance teaches us that anyone who sincerely keeps
searching for Jesus Christ will eventually find Him. Jesus’ gesture in calling His
disciples His “brethren” despite their having run away should fill us with love in
the midst of our own infidelities.

15. From Jesus’ dialogue with Mary Magdalene, we can see the frame of mind
all His disciples must have been in: they were not expecting the resurrection.

17. “Do not hold Me”: the use of the negative imperative in the Greek, reflected
in the New Vulgate (”noli me tenere”) indicates that our Lord is telling Mary to re-
lease her hold of Him, to let Him go, since she will have another chance to see
Him before His ascension into Heaven.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

EITHER:

First reading
Song of Songs 3:1-4 ©

The bride says this:

On my bed, at night, I sought him

whom my heart loves.

I sought but did not find him.

So I will rise and go through the City;

in the streets and in the squares

I will seek him whom my heart loves.

I sought but did not find him.

The watchmen came upon me

on their rounds in the City:

‘Have you seen him whom my heart loves?’

Scarcely had I passed them

when I found him whom my heart loves.

OR:

Alternative First reading
2 Corinthians 5:14-17 ©

The love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect that if one man has died for all, then all men should be dead; and the reason he died for all was so that living men should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life for them.

From now onwards, therefore, we do not judge anyone by the standards of the flesh. Even if we did once know Christ in the flesh, that is not how we know him now. And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 62(63):2-6,8-9 ©