OPENING EUCHARIST Presided By Don Gilberto, Bishop of Campinas

Juiy 22, 1998 - Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene

First Reading (2 Corinthians 5:14 - 17)

A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians:

For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for a therefore ali have died. And he died for ali, so that those who live might live no longer f themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a hum point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everythíng old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

Gospel (John 20, 1-2, 11-18)

Early on the first day of the week, while it was stili dark, Mary Magdalene came to the to and saw that the stone had been removed f rom the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Pet and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken t Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the 'Lomb; 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 1 do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" 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 1 have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, '1 am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "1 have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Homily

It is with great satisfaction that I preside at this Eucharist. I would like to call to mind the Apostolic Exhortation "Christifideles Laici" which is an important point of reference for perceiving the problems of the world and of the Church and for understandíng and living the evangelical proposals which the Lord makes known to us through the voice of Peter: "The post conciliar way of the lay faithfui has not been exempted from problems and dangers". The Holy Father makes reference to the confidence which he has in lay christians and defines their presence in the Church as "sons and daughters of the Son". He calls to mind the fact that their dignity comes to them through Baptism which is the Trinitarian source of their founding grace, the origin of their dignity and the responsibility of each and every one.

Ignatian spirituality emphasizes certain elements of evangelical life which cannot be ignored at this particular moment in the history of today's men and women. The first is the primacy of God in the Son and in the Spirit in the coherence of the faith, as St. Paul teaches us in today's reading: "The Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we preach among you has not been ' yes and no' but only 'yes"'. The second is a deliberate determination to serve the Kingdom which does not let us forget the initial and irreversible election. This service is carried out within the Church. The third element which I would like to emphasize is the personal choice to follow Jesus Christ who does not accept ambiguities which disfigure his identity. "To love and to serve" are demands that cannot be forgotten or minimized. ln this is summed up completely the teaching of Jesus.

lt is my sincere desire that in this Assembly all may help and be helped in the great task of promoting the greater glory of God. May Mary, our lmmaculate Mother, be with us in this Assembly, as she was in the Cenacle, animating and blessing us, in the name of her Son, Jesus Christ.