By Patt Haggerty

I always love singing the responsorial psalm for Easter Sunday: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.” (Psalm 118) The psalm reminds us that “The right hand of the Lord has struck with power; the right hand of the Lord is exalted. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.”

What we are asked to do is not focus on things of the earth but rather on what is beyond.  In the gospel for Tuesday of Easter Week, we receive another reminder from John.  He tells us that Mary Magdalene was weeping near the tomb looking for her Lord.  In that beautiful scene, she discovers the risen Lord and calls him “Rabbouni” (teacher).  The Lord tells her:  “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. “

What does all this mean for us?  Are we not to hold on to the Lord?  Maybe we are supposed to do things differently now that He has risen from the dead.  He has accomplished what he set out to do---he has fulfilled the plan for our redemption.  What must we do now?

I think we should view our Lenten journey and the act of Christ’s resurrection with new eyes.  We need to be transformed by the experience, just as the disciples on the way to Emmaus were transformed after breaking bread with Jesus, and just as Mary Magdalene was transformed after encountering her Teacher.

There is a very simple cycle of experiential learning that has been devised by David Kolb.  It relates to how we view experiences that we have gone through.  Simply put, it is the what of the experience.  What just happened? Followed by the so what. So what does this mean for me? And, lastly, we ask now what? As a result of this, what’s next for us?

I think this can work well if we apply it to our Easter experience.  What:  we have just experienced the story of our salvation and have shared in the death and Resurrection of our Lord.  So what:  this should be of major significance in our lives.  Now what:  how do we move forward as Christians after having experienced such a life-changing event?

The latter question is the most important and deserves the most reflection.  How are we going to change as a result of Easter?  What kind of an impact is this going to have on us moving forward?  Are we going to be transformed like the disciples of Jesus?

Think about this.  Ponder it.  But above all, “rejoice and be glad!”