I have seen the Lord

John 20 : 11 - 18

Jesus said to her, "Mary".......

I hope we can substitute our name for Mary's as we pay attention to the many ways our Risen Lord comes to us, ever so often.......Sometimes, these are very subtle and can be missed in the seemingly more 'real' events and experiences of daily life.

We may also miss the Lord when the focus is on ourselves, our problems, rather than on expectations of encountering him, whatever the circumstances.

I love the readings that follow Easter Sunday. They remind me that it is not enough for a Christian to know about the Lord, but that we are invited to know him personally, the One who loves us beyond comprehension and shares his life with us. Each person's relationship with the Risen Lord will be unique, as different as we are from one another.

Recently, a friend asked me and others to pray for her 18 year old niece who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor a couple of months ago. The growth has affected her sight and her walking and is inoperable so she has been on radiotherapy and chemotherapy. We have just been told that she is much better and can even walk unaided. This news is truly wonderful - coinciding as it does with the Easter season. Indeed, it is a way that the 'present risenness of Christ' (a phrase used by Brennan Manning in "Abba's Child") is made real for the family and extended family. For them what means just as much as the encouraging progress is the fact that so many are praying for her, are keeping her close to the Lord's healing embrace. Indeed, this young girl has 'met' the Lord in a very real way, and her faith will never be the same again.

May we be able to share with others how we too have "seen the Lord!" That, and the transformation such an encounter brings may be the most convincing witness to a world that is tired of religious platitudes.