Gospel (Jn 20,11-18) - At that time, Mary was outside, near the tomb, and she was crying. While she was crying, she bent down towards the tomb and saw two angels in white robes, one sitting at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been placed. And they said to her: «Woman, why you cry?". She replied to them: "They have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have placed him." Having said this, she turned back and saw Jesus, standing; but she didn't know it was Jesus. She said Jesus to her: «Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?". She, thinking that he was the guardian of the garden, said to him: "Lord, if you took him away, tell me where you put him and I will go and get him." Jesus said to her: «Mary!». She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” - which means: «Master!». Jesus said to her: «Do not hold me back, because I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them: 'I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God'". Mary Magdalene went to announce to her disciples: "I have seen the Lord!" and what she had told her.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The Liturgy of the day makes us still remain next to that tomb where the body of Jesus was placed. And it shows us Mary Magdalene standing there, while she mourns the death of her Lord. The loss of the only person who understood her and who had freed her from the slavery of seven demons did not make her stay at home petrified in pain and stuck in resignation and defeat. On the contrary, she pushed her to go towards the tomb to be next to her: she could not be without the master, even if he was dead. How distant we are from this woman's love! Too little do we mourn the loss of the Lord. Maria is disconsolate, of course, but not resigned. She asks everyone, the two angels and the "gardener", where Jesus is. She is all intent on looking for the Master. Nothing else about her interests her. She is truly the example of the true believer, of someone who never stops seeking the Lord in every way. She also questions the "gardener": "Sir, if you took it away, tell me where you put it and I will go and get it." Mary sees Jesus with her eyes, but she does not recognize him. Only when she hears her name called does her eyes open too. This is what happens to us too when, in need of true words, we listen to the Gospel. We do not see Jesus with our eyes, but the heart that awaits words of love recognizes his voice. That timbre, that tone, that name of hers pronounced with a tenderness that had touched her heart many times, make the barrier that death had placed between her and Jesus fall. Mary recognizes it when she hears herself called by her name. The Gospel, in fact, does not speak in a generic way. It is a word of love that reaches the heart. It must be listened to in an atmosphere of prayer, within a tension of search for meaning, of need for vision. We must listen to it with that woman's heart. And if we do it, even just once, it means never abandoning the Lord again. The voice of Jesus (the Gospel) is not forgotten. Even if we hear it for a moment, we never give it up again. Familiarity with the evangelical words, in fact, is familiarity with the Lord: it constitutes the way to see and meet him. Maria throws herself at the Master's feet and embraces him with the poignant affection of someone who has found the decisive man in her life. But Jesus tells her: "Do not hold me back... Go instead to my brothers." Evangelical love is an energy that pushes us to go further. It is the energy that had moved Jesus himself, ever since, in obedience to the Father, "he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, becoming in the likeness of men" (Phil 2.7). Mary obeyed Jesus and ran to the disciples. And, we might say, she was even happier as she ran again to announce to everyone: “I have seen the Lord!”. She, the sinner, became the first "apostle" of the Gospel of the resurrection.