Tuesday within Easter Octave : 2nd April 2024

After hearing the fiery preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost, the people were cut to the heart. They were so touched by God that they asked Peter, “What must we do?” And Peter exhorted them to repent, that is, to have a conversion of heart.

Mary, too, at the entrance of the tomb, was moved from the visual experience of the risen Christ, to a conversion of the heart. She did not recognise Jesus at the beginning. She held on to a physical and familiar experience of Jesus before His resurrection. She had to let go of this experience of Jesus, the familiar version which she clung to inordinately. Now that Jesus had risen, she needed to let go of the old encounter of Jesus (more external) to a new encounter of Jesus (more internal).

Do we need a conversion of heart, like Mary Magdalene? We constantly ask ourselves, “What must we do?” Can we let go of certain images of Jesus in order to have a conversion of heart to a newer image of Jesus? No doubt Jesus is still the same after His resurrection, and yet He is different. We can spend more time in personal prayer with Jesus to know Him better. The more we encounter Jesus with interiority, the more it will change our heart in the intimate relationship with Jesus.

Risen Jesus, change my heart like unto Your heart so that I may see You with Your eyes rather than with my own eyes.