Garden of My Meditation

Scripture Ventures pa rin. I had goosebumps last Friday at the side chapel where we had our Mass. Four priests, all SV participants like me, concelebrated it. An Austrian, Fr. Elia Schneider (we have same-sounding names & rumor has it that he's a lawyer too, but he left before I could interview him), was the homilist for that day and I had a deeper appreciation of Mary Magdalene's love for Jesus because of him.

Just a summary of that reflection - in the law of evidence we have an exception to the hearsay rule, that is, if an utterance is made during or after a startling or shocking event, it is admissible in evidence as part of the res gestae. I think Mary Magdalene's utterance of Rabbouni!, which is Aramaic for "teacher", is part of the res gestae and explains how much she loves Jesus... as a teacher. I could go on and on about this. May God have mercy on the dirty minds who put so much meaning into their relationship. Of course there is love - Jesus, according to Fr. Elia, loved Mary Magdalene because he loved everyone. Mary Magdalene, human though she was, grew in her love for Jesus but he was her teacher, first and foremost. If she had other things in mind, she would have gushed out to Jesus with words other than "teacher" upon seeing him whom she thought was already dead. People can't lie when in shock. She was in shock because Jesus rose from the dead!

That particular Mass was so special to me, not just because of my reflections on human love for the divine. Having so intimate a Eucharistic Celebration reminded me of what heaven is said to be like in Scripture. I felt Jesus' presence so strongly that Friday evening, together with religious and lay leaders of this country.




Finally, here's a view of the gardens outside the chapel at the Divine Word Seminary. It was quite a walk from where our rooms were but I loved meditating with these surroundings.