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Easter peace meal
Photo meditation on Easter and Forgiveness
By Joseph R. Veneroso, M.M.
Mary Magdalene mourns alone.
“Woman, why are you weeping?”
the well-meaning, if clueless, gardener asks.
“Sir, if you have taken him,
tell me where he is.”
Lightning illumines her darkened soul
when she hears her name
spoken with such tenderness:
“Mary.”
Peter does not dare believe—
his guilt too strong, his faith too weak—
unworthy of love
much less redemption, he confesses,
“Lord, you know everything.
You know I love you.”
And finds himself suddenly
commissioned to forever feed us
from the fountain of forgiveness.
Thomas doubts their story
if not their sanity, for surely
the dead do not rise, but
physical proof alone
erupts into eternal truth:
“My Lord and my God!”
We are Emmaus bound,
downcast and discouraged,
without hope or happiness
till a stranger opens our minds,
sets out hearts on fire,
sits with us at table,
and breaking bread,
bestows on us and all the world
amazing grace.