2025/02/03

181. The Prophesied One, part 5

In the twentieth theme of Admonitions attributed to St Francis of Assisi, The Good and the Vain Religious, he writes: "Blessed is that religious who has no pleasure and delight except in the most holy words and deeds of the Lord, and, with these, leads people to the love of God with gladness and joy. Woe to that religious who delights himself in idle and empty words and leads people to laughter with them." That is the essence of John's Gospel and Revelation that Francis received through the San Damiano Crucifix. He had acquired from the Gospel of John the very words "in the most holy words and deeds of the Lord", and from his training of Revelation a sense of "blessedness" and "woe" and the ability to discern it in himself from the perspective of others, metacognition. That is what the "disciple whom Jesus loved" looks like. He must have wanted to remain in this position, a bearer of"the vocation of Jesus". 

The last three of the seven episodes depicted after the resurrection of the Lord in John's Gospel reveal the "love of God" that is only in "the most holy words and deeds of the Lord". As we discussed last time, Jesus demonstrated the love of God with the passion of the Father, together with the maternal thoughts, so that "they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves" (Jn 17:13). It is the task of every Christian to lead people to this point, i.e. to have "no pleasure and delight except in the most holy words and deeds of the Lord, and, with these, leads people to the love of God with gladness and joy". That is because the Christian is a disciple of Christ, a religious who bears the name of Christ. 

Its feasibility depended on the priesthood of the New Covenant. The New Testament shows that the passion of the Father and the thoughts of the Son, who bore it, were aimed at the priesthood of the New Covenant. Since the time God had said to the first man, "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground" (Gen 3:19), God was waiting for that time when the Holy Spirit would descend, and the priests of the New Covenant would work with the Holy Spirit to bring forth the Eucharist. This plan of God will not cease until the "Kingdom of God" among us is testified to by Christians and recognised by the whole world. That is when we will reach the point where God said, after having seen everything that he had made: "[I]t was very good" (Gen 1:31). Once the Mass liturgy is completed, we Christians will realise that it was the "Kingdom of God". The males who work with the Holy Spirit to bring forth the Eucharist, the Apostles and their successors, will continue to assure future Christians of the "love of God" shown by Jesus by keeping up the priesthood they inherited from Mary, the mother of Jesus (cf. Jn 19:26-27). 

In the fifth episode, after a great catch, the Apostles pulled in a net with fish, and when they returned by boat and went ashore, they found a charcoal fire there. There was also bread. Jesus called out, "Come and have breakfast" (Jn 21:12). He then "took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish" (21:13). Jesus was setting an example of what the Apostles were to do to those who would come to believe in him by their words. Herein lies the essence of the priesthood that the Apostles, as male, inherited from Mary, the mother of Jesus (cf. Lk 22:27). 

In the sixth episode, Jesus tried to communicate "the love of God" through Peter's experience. On the evening of the day of his resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Apostles and gave them the peace of the Lord and conferred on them the authority to forgive sins to send them (cf. Jn 20:19-23). By this, they were healed from having abandoned Jesus and fled and from Peter's three times denial of Jesus. That state of affairs is when "the love of God" can be communicated. 

It is written, "When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?'" (Jn 21:15). Once, in the presence of the Apostles, Jesus revealed to Peter, who had replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16), that "flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (16:17), promising, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (16:18-19). Jesus' gaze was again focused on the Apostle Peter with the Father's fervour and mother's thoughts. Peter was to be able to satisfy the condition, "more than these." 

When Peter said to Jesus, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you," Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs" (Jn 21:15). It is the Father who can say, "My lambs." So, the one who asked Peter about love at this time was the Father's will. Jesus went on to ask about love and commanded, "Tend my sheep" (21:16). This was the will of the Son with the thoughts of a mother. In the words of Jesus, who asked the same question a third time and commanded, "Feed my sheep" (21:17), and in the words that followed, there was the work of the Holy Spirit announcing what was to come (cf. 16:13). The author only found out the meaning of those words after the Holy Spirit had descended (cf. 21:19). To know the love of the Triune God is the experience of man entering into the unity of God (cf. 17:21-26). Jesus then said to Peter, "Follow me" (21:19). He instructed Peter, who had experienced "the love of God," the way of a Christian again. 

To be continued.

Maria K. M.

 2025/01/27

180. The Passion of the Father and New Men and Women

As we considered in the previous article, the Father's passion was poured out on the male members of the Christians, the new people. That is because the work which God began by saying, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen 1:26), must reach the point already mentioned in Genesis 1, that is, the point where he saw everything he had made and said that "it was very good" (Gen 1:31). 

In Genesis, the first "man", whom God himself formed from the dust of the ground, was the "first human person". God then created the woman from one of the ribs of this first "man". She became the "second human person", the one who was to produce human life as the helper of God's work of creation. Hence, the woman has many eggs in her body that become human life, and the memory of that fact gives the woman a nature that is open to the life of others. This nature is highly compatible with the Word, the second persona, the "Word," who is with God, who is God, who makes all things, and who has life in him (cf. Jn 1:1-4). That is evident from the fact that the woman spoke words first, beginning her interaction with the "human information" (the serpent) (cf. Gen 3:1-6). 

God then, after taking one of his ribs from the "first human person", closed up its place with flesh and created the "third human person", the male. The man came to know his physical insufficiency when he looked at the woman (cf. Gen 2:23). The memory of that lack causes the male to have a nature which makes him turn to others to fulfil it. God chose his people, appointed prophets and led them with fervour, making several covenants so that men would turn to the Holy Spirit, God's third persona, with the total mobilisation of this nature. Finally, he sent his Son. The prayer of Jesus in John 17:6-19 expresses the desire of the Son, who bore the Father's passion and fulfilled it. The deep love of God reflected in it evokes the image of a mother about to pass away praying for the children she is leaving behind. 

In the fullness of time, God, with the cooperation of Mary of Nazareth, sent his second persona into the world as Jesus Christ. Thus, the vacant post of the "first human person" was occupied by God, who was with the people. The Old Testament had already prophesied that women would bear children without intercourse (cf. Isa 7:14). The prophecy was fulfilled in the New Testament through Mary of Nazareth. Since the birth of the first child by in-vitro fertilisation in the UK in 1978, many women have already given birth to children outside of intercourse. The event that took place with the birth of Jesus became a prophecy about our time in the future (cf. Rev 19:10). This process of prophecy fulfilment demonstrates the involvement of God's reality in human history. 

From the above, we can see that God created man male and female so that human beings might be transformed by the Holy Spirit into the likeness of the Triune God. Hence, Jesus Christ led his chosen Apostles into the priesthood of the New Covenant, by which the Eucharist is produced. The Apostles who received the priesthood became the foundation of the Church that Jesus had given birth to by his death on the Cross (cf. Rev 21:14). The Church depicted in the San Damiano Crucifix is indeed composed of the people created new men and women. The Father's passion blows into it through the Holy Spirit. 

Maria K. M.

 2025/01/20

179. The Prophesied One, part 4

St Francis of Assisi accepted the diaconate despite having the "vocation of Jesus". And he received the Stigmata. That was because he was a male Christian. We shall examine this based on the following words of the risen Jesus, who commanded Mary Magdalene: "[G]o to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God" (Jn 20:17). 

The place of "my brethren" was where Simon Peter and John, described as "the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved" (Jn 20:2), stayed, the house to which Mary Magdalene ran to inform them when she saw the stone removed from the tomb. It was the house to which Jesus sent Peter and John on an errand the previous Thursday to prepare for the "day of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb had to be sacrificed" (Luke 22:7). At that time, Jesus told them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house which he enters, and tell the householder, 'The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples?' And he will show you a large upper room furnished; there make ready" (22:10-12). Peter and John experienced just what Jesus said. They stayed in that house, which contained "the guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples".  

After the descent of the Holy Spirit, they would routinely experience the scene where they met a man carrying a water jar, followed him to the house he was entering and asked the householder for something. That is because the man carrying the water jar was the Holy Spirit, and the house he entered was the house, which contained "the guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples", the place where the Mass liturgy is celebrated. The householder of the house was the Father. What priests ask of the Father is the highest they can ask for in this life: "They may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ". In that house where Peter and John had prepared the Passover meal, Jesus instituted the Eucharist. The Holy Spirit and the Father were also present. The Apostles, who sat around the table with Jesus, were witnesses to and heirs of his work. The future of all believers who would sit at the table together was also there owing to them. God is at the table with us. 

So, the risen Jesus used the phrase "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God", which seemed that he deliberately put distance between himself and the Apostles, but that was to direct their eyes to the Father. God has guided and walked with his chosen people through several old covenants throughout history until he sent Jesus into the world. When Jesus asked his disciples, "But who do you say that I am?" (Mt 16:15) Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (16:16), to which Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (16:17). The Father's passion was already upon the male members of the "Christians", the new people, at this time. 

The image of the San Damiano Crucifix makes us realise the meaning of the same scene in the Gospel of John by appealing to our visual senses. Behind the two women depicted to the left of Jesus, i.e., Mary Magdalene with "the vocation of Jesus" and Mary, wife of Clopas with "the vocation of Joseph", there are, implicitly, men with those vocations. However, they are not depicted. That is because they are Christian men who, when the conditions are right, must be ready to receive the "vocation of Mary", i.e. the priesthood, even immediately, in response to the needs of the Church. 

St Francis received the diaconate in response to the needs of the Church, even though he had the "vocation of Jesus". He received the Stigmata, and it was the Father's reward to him for this. 

To be continued.

Maria K. M.

 2025/01/13

178. The Prophesied One Part 3

The memory of St Francis found in his writings, as well as the description of his biography, urge us to advance in faith with the truths revealed in them. Francis was prophesied as a man whose eyes gazed open at Jesus on the cross in the San Damiano Crucifix (cf. blog № 174). The fact that he received the Stigmata and embodied Mary Magdalene's words, "I will take him away", and that he had received the diaconate were crucial clues to understanding the vocations in the Church. 

"Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father" (Jn 20:17), Jesus said to Mary Magdalene because she was a woman. It was appropriate that John the Evangelist inserted this scene because the teachings of Jesus Christ were received by male and female disciples on an equal footing, allowing them to live the "vocation of Jesus", which, therefore, could have created the illusion that women were to receive the priesthood in the same way as men. 

Mary Magdalene, who stood by the cross of Jesus and was present when Jesus united His mother and the disciple whom he loved in a parent-child bond, became the witness to the fact that the Apostles, who were men, were made conjoined with the priesthood in an undivided bond by the words of Jesus on the cross. She also testified in the scene of his resurrection that she had the "vocation of Jesus" by declaring to the risen Jesus that she would take away his body. Then Jesus said, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father". These words were intended to admonish the women who would be called to the "vocation of Jesus" after her to let go of their clinging to Jesus, to give up their attachment to the body of Christ, who had not yet ascended to the Father, and to take a step towards the Holy Spirit, so that they would have no illusion about the priesthood. 

Jesus continued, commanding Mary Magdalene, "[G]o to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God" (Jn 20:17). Without hesitation, she "went and said to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord'; and she told them that he had said these things to her" (20:18). This prepared the disciples, who had locked the door of the house they were in for fear of the Jews, for Jesus' visit. 

That evening, they had locked the doors of their house, but Jesus came and stood in the middle. And he said twice, "Peace be with you". That was to give them the authority to forgive sins before sending them to their mission. The Gospel of Matthew says, "Peter said to him, 'Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.' And so said all the disciples" (Mat 26:35). The Apostles, beginning with Peter, were testifying that they would never abandon Jesus. However, when the disciples saw Jesus' Passion, they all fled, and Peter denied Jesus three times, saying he did not know him. If each of them does not first forgive themselves, they will not be able to witness to Jesus. In other words, they cannot go on their mission. This episode is the third of the seven episodes described in the scene of the resurrection of the Lord in the Gospel of John. 

In the fourth episode, Jesus appears to the Apostle Thomas, who did not believe that the risen Jesus had come, and says: "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing" (Jn 20:27). These words are in contrast to his admonition to Mary Magdalene: "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father". That happened because Thomas was one of the Apostles conjoined with the priesthood. 

As Jesus went on to say to Thomas, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (20:29), a priest who is to touch the bread and wine specially prepared to be the body of Christ has the blessing of "those who have not seen and yet believe". John the Evangelist explains that "these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (20:31). He is saying that the priest himself, who raises the Eucharist, and the congregation around the altar with him, are to believe and confess that the Eucharist is "the Christ, the Son of God" and to receive life in the name of Jesus. 

To be continued.

Maria K. M.

 2025/01/06

177. The Prophesied One Part 2

Seven episodes are in the scene of the resurrection of the Lord in the Gospel of John. In the previous article № 175, we examined the first two episodes, concluding that the words of Mary Magdalene, "I will take him away", were fulfilled in the person of St Francis, who received the Stigmata, more than a thousand years later. The San Damiano Crucifix, which captured Francis, prophesied his appearance (cf. blog № 174). He was called to appear in his own time as the one who had acquired the truths of the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation, which were considered difficult to understand. The Holy Spirit inspired the Church of his time with the truths that emerged from his writings and biographies, both during Francis' lifetime and after his death. It continues to do so today. With this understanding, we will continue the examination of the resurrection scenes in John's Gospel. 

Mary Magdalene stood by the cross of Jesus, witnessed his end, received his blood and water, and became a witness to the new covenant and one of the first four members of the Church born then. We have considered her vocation on many occasions. And we were convinced that her declaration to Jesus that she would "take away" his body, which she made without realising it was Jesus when she first encountered the risen Jesus, was a testimony to her vocation. However, I could not see the meaning of the following words that Jesus said to her in this scene when he called out, "Mary," to her, and she turned to him: "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father" (Jn 20:17). It now came to be clarified through the reflection on the San Damiano Crucifix and the vocation of Francis, who received the stigmata. 

Just as Mary Magdalene, turning at the voice of Jesus, involuntarily said "Teacher", and as Jesus himself said, "You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am" (Jn 13:13), Jesus did not live his life as a Saviour, much less as a priest. So, people at the time thought Jesus was a prophet. Many disciples followed Jesus. Among them were women. 

These women provided for Jesus and his party by sharing their possessions (cf. Luke 8:1-3). These women - like Mary Magdalene, who received the "vocation of Jesus" from the risen Jesus; Martha, who confessed before Jesus who he was (cf. Jn 11:17-27); and the Samaritan woman, who drew the theme of the water of life and new worship from her question and answer to Jesus (cf. Jn 4:1-30) - were women who could draw out specific dialogues from him guided by Jesus, spontaneously seek the Word of God, and connect the fruit of these dialogues to their own words and deeds. In this way, male and female disciples were to be able to inherit the "vocation of Jesus" on an equal footing. Meanwhile, while the people of that time thought of Jesus as a prophet, he was still the Son of God with us, the Saviour, and the priest that would be manifested at the end of his short life. These hidden characteristics of Jesus will be clarified by the "vocation of Mary". 

Francis, who had acquired the truth of the Gospel of John and Revelation, revealed the vocations of the Church born near the cross by embodying the "vocation of Jesus" so that the motif of the Gospel of John depicted in the San Damiano Crucifix could be realised. Therefore, he must have realised the meaning of Jesus' words: "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father". That is because Francis, even though called to the "vocation of Jesus", took the diaconate following the recommendation of the Church. He accepted the mission as a male Christian out of love for the Church. The words of Jesus contained the admonition that the bread and wine, which had been specially kept aside to become the body of Christ, must not be touched until it was raised by the hands of the priest as the Eucharist. That was because Mary Magdalene was a woman. 

To be continued.

Maria K. M.

 2024/12/30

176. A Letter

On the feast day of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, I wrote a letter and sent it to one of my friends who reads this blog. I read it myself and found it was adequate for posting on this blog, even though it was longer than usual. The following is the letter, excluding the opening and closing greetings. The image above is her work. 

In writing my blog, I have been greatly helped by St. Francis. I had no interest in St. Francis before and had never even paid attention to the San Damiano Crucifix. So, I never imagined that the images on it had anything to do with the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation. I was led here by various encounters brought about by the hand of God. I am grateful for the great blessing I have received. I have decided to make the most of this blessing and share it with others. Please pray for me. 

God is the only one who can say, "I AM" (Jn 8:58). And as John's letter tells us, and as St. Francis also wrote, "God is love". Let us become passionate witnesses proclaiming this truth.

"Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love" (1Jn 4:7-8)

"So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1Jn 4:16). 

To remain in "God's love", we believers need to make an effort to become able to concentrate on the "time of working with the Holy Spirit," focusing on the divine informationlessness shown by the Eucharist and becoming poor in all information. To work well with the Holy Spirit sent in the name of "Jesus", it is essential to maintain the worldview of Jesus Christ. The training of reading and listening to the Book of Revelation has the power of infusing it into us. Those who take the words of Revelation literally and put them into practice are the little ones who accept God's washing. 

I think that St. Francis read the words of Revelation, "Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near" (Rev 1:3) and put them into practice with the innocence of a child. That is because when you read his writings, you will see that he was heading towards the Eucharist and "human information", the knowledge of good and evil (cf. blog no.169 and 170). He did so to recognize the "I AM" of the great God, whom we can only grasp as informationlessness, and understand himself created by the spontaneity of God and the knowledge of God, that is, a mass of information. This passage in Revelation assures us that we can become those "who keep what is written therein" by continuing the training of reading it aloud, listening to its voice and letting it enter our memory. Even if we can only do one line a day when we are busy or having difficulty, or if we can do more for some reason, the voice will enter our memory like flowing water, and God's washing will continue. 

Those who accept God's washing always find divine informationlessness before the Eucharist. That is because, when they concentrate on the Eucharist, even if only for a moment, they become poor in the "human information" within and without themselves. And when receiving the Eucharist, those little ones who accept God's washing every day will have a moment of becoming truly poor. So, as I always say, when we receive the Eucharist, I think the Eucharist is asking us two things: "But who do you say that I am?" (Mt 16:15) and "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (Jn 11:25-26). 

We know the answer. Just as Mary and Joseph knew, through the angel, that the child to be born would be named Jesus, we know the answer thanks to the New Testament. The life Mary and Joseph received through the collaboration of the Holy Spirit and Mary was God taking human flesh as a perfect man. His name was Jesus. On the other hand, the life we receive through the collaboration of the Holy Spirit and the priest is God, who became the flesh of Christ in the form of bread and wine. His name is "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mat 16:16). Jesus testified that "flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (Mat 16:17). 

The question, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" was one that Jesus asked Martha before raising Lazarus in Bethany. In the question, he asked whether she believed everything he had said in the scene where Jesus had revealed that he was the bread of life (cf. Jn 6:22-59). Martha's following reply testifies to her belief, even if she did not understand all of it: "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world" (Jn 11:27). 

This letter has become quite long, and eventually, I have returned to the theme I have discussed many times before. But I hope you think about it seriously. During the Mass, when the priest elevates the host, Catholics around the world say, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed," and then they go to receive communion. Are these words something that the faithful can be satisfied with as appropriate? 

Even though Jesus was willing to go to his house, the centurion never received him into his home out of humility. Nevertheless, Jesus praised his faith, saying, "I tell you, I have not seen such faith even in Israel" (Lk 7:9). This was because he was in front of the multitude that had come to follow him. However, before the Last Supper, when Jesus was about to wash Peter's feet, Peter's humility in saying, "You will never wash my feet" (Jn 13:8) was sternly rejected by Jesus, who said, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me." In the face of God's humility, human humility even cuts off our relationship with God. In fact, the centurion's humility deprived his servants and family of the opportunity to encounter Jesus. 

Isn't it necessary for us today to confess that the Eucharist is "the Christ, the Son of God," and to do so aloud? Deep within, believers have the desire to confess to the Eucharist, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" Please consider this. 

Maria K.M.

 2024/12/23

175. The Prophesied One Part 1

If St Francis was prophesied in the San Damiano Crucifix, as discussed in the previous issue, the reason must be hidden in the Gospel of John. Furthermore, if the Jesus on that crucifixion represents the Eucharist, then it represents the risen Jesus, so the scenes depicted here are concerned with the scenes of his resurrection. The first one of these scenes is: "Now on the first day of the week Mary Mag'dalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.'" (Jn 20:1-2). 

Mary of Magdala and "the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved" had stood by the cross two days earlier with the mother of Jesus and the wife of Clopas, splashed with the blood and water that flowed from the side of Jesus, and witnessed the conclusion of the New Covenant and the birth of the Church (cf. Jn 19:25-35). In the scene where Mary of Magdala ran to announce the news, John the Evangelist mentioned the name of Simon Peter first, for the same reason that in the following scene, "the other disciple", who ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb before him, waited for Peter without going inside. John the Evangelist recognized that Peter had been chosen by the heavenly Father and Jesus as the head of the Church (cf. Mt 16:17-19). Additionally, along with that fact, there was no way that the Apostles did not remember his resurrection, which Jesus had begun to reveal to them from this time onwards and spoken about many times. 

Remembering the case of Lazarus, whom Jesus had resurrected, they would have found it strange that the linen cloths that had wrapped Jesus' body and the napkin on his head were still in the tomb. Also, unlike the other Gospels, which describe earthquakes, angels and the appearance of people in long white and shining robes, the mere sight of the empty tomb would have led "the other disciple" to assume that the body had been taken away. He believed in the words of Mary of Magdala, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb." He could not, however, ask Peter for his opinion. That was a natural conclusion considering Peter's experience on Thursday night when he denied Jesus three times at the time of his arrest. The rooster depicted below the San Damiano Crucifix, next to Jesus' left knee, is the sign that Jesus guarded Peter, who had said, "I will lay down my life for you" (Jn 13:37), with his words (cf. 13:38). 

However, it was inevitable that "they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead" (20:9). That is because Jesus had said, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth" (16:13). Peter and "the other disciple" "went back home" (Jn 20:10) to consult with the other Apostles about the issue that Jesus' body had been taken away. They feared the chief priests who had posted the guard at the tomb (cf. Mt 27:62-66, 28:11-15). 

Meanwhile, Mary of Magdala remained alone, weeping outside the tomb. Then, the risen Jesus appeared to her. At this point, thinking it was a gardener, she had enough energy and fervent hope to say, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away" (Joh 20:15). The desire "I will take him away" expressed her unique vocation. The body of Jesus, whom she said she would take away, had the marks of four nails and a wound in the side. 

Francis, the man depicted in a small, neck-only figure on the far left of the San Damiano Crucifix, the prophesied one, the third John, stares at Jesus on the cross with his eyes wide open. Francis, who later received the Stigmata, embodied the words of Mary of Magdala, "I will take him away". Francis was called to the same vocation as Mary of Magdala. 

To be continued.

Maria K. M.