The first appearance of the risen Jesus, in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, is not in any of the four gospels. Jesus is pictured as appearing to Mary His mother. A person praying through the Exercises is invited to imagine this intimate “mother/Son” embrace. She, who had been told to “Behold your Son” now completes that invitation not merely to behold her son, but hold Him as He holds her in some glorious, (too-much for words) more-than word meeting. How tender!

In today’s gospel from John, Jesus is presented as appearing to an other Mary who holds on to Jesus after firstly had thought him to be a “gardener”. Jesus had been buried in some kind of tomb near some kind of garden.

I suggest we might turn to the third chapter of Genesis where we can read about the Lord walking in His garden calling out to Adam and Eve. They were afraid and ashamed and so were hiding. The Lord has a bit of a conversation with them and with each individually as well. They were to be punished resulting in future human sufferings. The Lord banishes them from the garden to face the results of their disobediance.

We pray today with the Divine Gardener Who has embraced His Humanity and in His Resurrection, divinely embraces our humanity in His new garden. He talks to this woman with her arms around Jesus’ feet. He doesn’t banish her, but missions, sends, invites, her, Mary, to be the first announcer of the Good News. Intimacy here, is temporary, real and as with all experiences of intimacy, shared to be re-shared. In the text, Mary does not resist or ask questions about anything. She is missioned to share with His companions who, like Adam and Eve, were hiding out of fear and shame. Intimacy is meant to be fruitful.

The Gardener sends Mary to His (com-pan-ions) each day of His Eucharistic embrace of our Humanity. As with His meeting His mother and this first-sent woman, we shared the “Bread”, the Latin word is (panish) so companions are those who “bread-with). This Bread, this intimacy is meant to be sent within us and then outside of us.

The Gardener is raised so that we are no longer “banished” to “labor”, but are “sent” to the “mission” of tending His garden through His constant tending to us in our human, but sacred selves.