Today’s Scripture Readings

Gospel Reading

NRSV

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

I love to dance. It brings me great joy – the way the rhythm moves through me and how my body responds to the music. Even more so, the joy of dancing with another person. When I married my Greek husband, I learned the energetic, rhythmic steps of Greek dancing, where people hold shoulders or hands and move in a line or circle. The steps are simple and intricate at once, welcoming everyone to participate and feel the music in the community.

How does dancing relate to today’s Gospel? At the tomb, Mary Magdalene feels deep grief and loss. It is only when Jesus calls her by name that she recognises Him as “Rabbouni”. Jesus then invites her into the divine dance, the rhythm of the Trinity. He tells Mary, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” The intimate relationship within the Trinity is opened to Mary, to the disciples and to all of humanity.

Jesus draws us into holy motion, or perichoresis. By His Resurrection we are included in the mutual indwelling and relational life of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God’s love is in perpetual movement, a dynamic unity in which we are invited to participate. Mary responds by rushing to tell the brothers, inviting them into the trinitarian circle of rhythm and unity. This is the invitation I feel as well: to step into the divine dance, to be carried by grace into a life of shared love, mission and joy.

Easter is a time to dance. What steps might you take this week to enter more fully into the shared dance the Father, Son and Holy Spirit invite you to join?