There is no incident in the entire  Gospels more emotionally moving than that moment in the garden when the Risen  Lord reveals His true identity, not by speaking his own name but by saying the  name of Mary Magdalene.  It is a breath catching moment - a lump in the throat  moment - a tear in the eye moment.  Through a blur of tears Mary has seen the  figure of a man and not unnaturally, considering the location in the garden,  she takes him to be the gardener.  Rich men like Joseph of Arimathea don't do  their own gardening; they employ someone to do it for them.  In his generosity  and kindness Joseph had given to the crucified Christ the gift of an unused  tomb within his garden.

As Mary sees this man she supposes to be the gardener,  she sees, through her tears, a representative of the proprietor, someone of  power and authority.  Surely he will know what has happened to the body  of her Lord.  And all the pent up stress and emotion - all the grief and the  tiredness, break - and she cries out - "Sir, if you have carried him away,  tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him  away".

The voice of real heartbreak and despair  produces a suggestion that is laughable; how could Mary have possibly carried  away the dead body of a fully-grown man?

But Mary does not know what she is saying, for she is  so torn apart by the events of the last few days.  And Jesus answers all her  anxiety and brings comfort to all her grief with just a single word -  "Mary", and it is enough.  All her hopes and fears, all  that she has been through and all that she is seem focused in that single word  - her name - "Mary".  All Jesus' love and concern for her is  centred upon this special moment, when He speaks the word - "Mary".  As He utters her name, she is identified  and welcomed; affirmed and lifted  up.

There is a strange echo here from the  Genesis Creation story and a distant memory of the Garden of Eden.  Who are  these two, this man and this woman, in a springtime garden as the light of  dawn rises on a completely new day?  Well, don't we have here resonances of a  second Adam and a second Eve - together again in Paradise - the Garden of Eden  - and all creation is made new?  When God spoke the name of each thing that He  was making; we read "God said, 'Let there be light and there was light'".  And  now it is as though the Risen Lord recreates the world,  beginning with those He loves most, and He does so by naming  them.  In so naming He affirms and He blesses, and so they  become part of His new creation, His new kingdom - called by name.  The same  thing happened to you and to me when we were baptised.  As the priest  Christened us, he pronounced our name, and did it in the Name of  the Risen Lord.  We too were identified and welcomed, affirmed and made to  belong.

Prayer, too, is part of this ongoing work of affirmation.  When  I pray for someone by name, I am affirming him or her before God.  There is a  wonderful phrase that Michael Ramsey once used about the work of priests when  he said, they are "to pray before God with the people on their hearts".  When I  pray for people or individuals I sometimes use the image of prayer as holding  them in the sunshine of God's eternal love.  That sunshine of love pours down  upon us all the time; I'm certain of that.  I know, of course, that our English  weather sometimes means that clouds often get in the way.  They are the dark  clouds of my failings and my flaws - my pride and my prejudice.  But the  sunshine of God's love is strong enough to pierce through even the darkest of  clouds.  When we are held by name in prayer, it is as though that light and  that love were focused upon us as through a magnifying glass and we begin to  see the light and feel the warmth.  The sunrise of that first Easter Day was  not just one more dawning - but a moment, which bridged time and all  eternity.

Just one more final thought.  All that love and tenderness, that  affirmation and cherishing, which we discover in Jesus' single word - "Mary", is poured upon each one of us day after day - every day  of our lives.  That is what it means to be an Easter People - to live  this side of Easter - to have a strong faith in the Resurrection of  Jesus.  But it also means that as Easter People we have to deal with others and  minister to them in a resurrection way, with resurrection language,  resurrection laughter and, above all, with resurrection love.  We have to deal  with others and minister to them - as Christ ministered unto Mary and we have  to see the Risen Christ in each and every person we encounter and minister to  them as we would minister unto the Lord!

Ours is to be the way of  affirmation and raising up, not condemning and casting down.  Every harsh word, every piece of bitterness or scorn, not only diminishes others - but it  diminishes us also.  Yes, of course, we are called upon - as Christian people - to oppose evil and injustice - but we must do it without rancour and without  derision or bitterness.  For we are called, each and every one of us, to be  part of God's glorious work and to share in Christ's joyful resurrection - affirming, caring, loving, redeeming.  For, as a result of our faith and our  baptism - the Risen Christ who lives now - bids us share His  resurrection life. And so, may the Risen Christ Easter in you, today and  forever.

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