On this radiant Thursday within the Octave of Easter, Holy Mother Church places before us two encounters: one along a desert road (Acts 8:26–40), and another in a garden at dawn (John 20:11–18). Though separated by place and circumstance, both reveal the same mystery: the Risen Christ seeks the soul before the soul fully knows how to seek Him.
In the Acts of the Apostles, we find the Ethiopian eunuch—earnest, searching, yet perplexed. He reads the prophet Isaiah but confesses his need: “How can I understand unless someone guides me?” (Acts 8:31). The Lord, in His providence, sends Philip, who opens the Scriptures and proclaims Jesus. What follows is immediate and decisive: faith blossoms into baptism.
The Fathers of the Church saw in this moment a powerful image of the Church herself. St. Irenaeus teaches that the Scriptures, though divine, require the living voice of the Church for their true interpretation. Likewise, St. John Chrysostom marvels at the eunuch’s humility: “He did not say, ‘I understand,’ but sought a teacher… and thus he found Christ.” The desert road becomes a place of illumination because the soul is docile.
Contrast this with the Gospel scene: Mary Magdalene stands weeping outside the tomb. She is not confused like the eunuch—she is grieving, clinging to what she has lost. Yet even here, Christ approaches her gently, though she does not recognize Him at first. “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” (John 20:15).
St. Gregory the Great reflects that Mary’s tears were not in vain: “She sought Him whom she had not found, and wept while seeking; and being inflamed with love, she burned the more intensely.” Her persistence becomes the condition for revelation. When Christ speaks her name—“Mary”—everything changes. Recognition is born not from sight, but from being personally called.
Here the Fathers discern a profound truth: Christ is known intimately, not merely intellectually. Origen writes that the soul must pass from seeing Christ “according to the flesh” to knowing Him in a deeper, spiritual way. Thus Jesus says, “Do not cling to me”—not as a rejection, but as an invitation to a higher communion.
These two passages, read together in Easter light, reveal the path of every Christian soul. The eunuch represents the mind seeking truth; Mary represents the heart longing for the Beloved. Both are met by Christ—one through the preaching of the Church, the other through a personal call of love.
And both are sent forth.
The eunuch goes on his way rejoicing, carrying the Gospel into distant lands. Mary Magdalene becomes the apostola apostolorum, the apostle to the Apostles, proclaiming: “I have seen the Lord.”
St. Augustine beautifully unites these themes: “She who sought wept; she who wept found; and she who found proclaimed.” This is the Easter pattern—seeking, finding, and proclaiming.
On this Easter Thursday, the question echoes for each of us: Whom do you seek? Do we approach Scripture with the humility of the eunuch, ready to be taught? Do we seek Christ with the persevering love of Mary, even through tears?
The Risen Lord is not distant. He walks beside us on our roads, explains the Scriptures, and calls us each by name. Our task is to listen, to respond, and to go forth with joy.
Prayer
O Risen Lord,
who revealed Thyself to the humble seeker and the faithful lover,
open our minds to understand the Scriptures,
and call our hearts by name,
that we may recognize Thee in truth and love.
Grant that, like the saints of old,
we may proclaim with boldness: We have seen the Lord.
Amen.