Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

John 20:1-2, 11-18

On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her.

Reflection on the gospel reading: The gospel of John identifies its origin with the Beloved Disciple, but who among the followers of Jesus loved Jesus more than did Mary Magdalene. Though all of Jesus’ male disciples abandoned the Lord while he suffered on the cross, Mary stood by the side of Jesus’ mother to share the grief and without fear of the authorities. On the first day of the week, when the Sabbath concluded, it was this woman who went first to the tomb at the earliest hour the Law permitted to anoint the Lord’s broken body. She it is who finds the tomb is empty, and she it is. who as an apostle to the apostles, runs to announce the empty tomb to Peter and John. Though Peter and John walk away from the tomb after they see it is empty, she does not. She stays. And it is to her, for her love, single-heartedness, and devotion, that the Lord gives the reward of revealing his resurrection. Her place in the gospel story is unique.

Saint of the day: Today is the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene. Mary was given the name “Magdalene” because, though a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile. She was present at Our Lord’s crucifixion, and with Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, at Jesus’ empty tomb.

After Jesus’ body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the body of the Lord, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the body of her beloved Master had been taken. But then the person spoke in a voice she knew so well: “Mary!” It was the risen Lord. He had chosen to show himself first to Mary Magdalene, a woman in a time when women’s rights were held in little regard and a Jew from a Gentile community.

There is a tradition about Mary as a repentant sinner that has gotten a lot of mileage over the years. Here is a nice explanation of Mary Magdalene’s “career” as a “soiled” woman:

Spiritual reading: If the only prayer you say in your entire life is, “Thank You,” that would suffice. (Meditations with Meister Eckhart by Matthew Fox)