"Quem quaeritis?"

“Quem quaeritis?” (literally, "Whom do you seek?") refers to four lines of the medieval Easter liturgy that later formed the kernel of the large body of the medieval liturgical drama, which is also known as Visitatio sepulchri ("Visit to the tomb"). It was introduced into the liturgy in the tenth century as a new genre of liturgical ceremony:

Interrogatio: Quem quaeritis in sepulchro, o Christicolae?

Responsio: Jesum Nazarenum crucifixum, o caelicolae.

Angeli: Non est hic; surrexit, sicut praedixerat. Ite, nuntiate quia surrexit de sepulchro.

Translation:

Question (by the Angels): Whom do ye seek in the sepulcher, O followers of Christ?

Answer (by the Marys): Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified, O heavenly ones.

The Angels: He is not here; he is risen, just as he foretold. Go, announce that he is risen from the sepulchre.

(The lines were then followed by a sung chorus of Hallelujahs.)

You will not find the question, "Quem quaeritis?" ("Whom do you seek?") in any of the four canonical Gospels, although it is implied in Luke 24.  It is taken from the non-canonical Gospel of Peter, where the exchange of one question, one answer, and one command took place between the angels at Christ's tomb and three Marys: Mary the Virgin Mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the sister of Lazarus.

Church-goers and non-church-goers alike sometimes perceive clergy to be men and women who have found Jesus, know as much as there is to know about him, and have a solid faith.  However true or untrue that may be, I have found that this question, “Whom do you seek?,” frequently finds its way into my life as I seek to not only know Jesus more, but seek to find how my life intersects with his work in the world around me. “Whom do you seek?”  I seek Jesus. I seek to know him more and I seek to know daily how he is at work in my life and in the lives of those around me.

I invite you to join me on this journey.