Many myths circulated around Mary Magdalene long before Dan Brown’s sensational book,
The Da Vinci Code. She is likely the better-known women of the early church.
What do we know of the real Mary Magdalene? She was probably among the women who travelled with Jesus; Mark and Luke, tell us that Jesus drove
seven demons out of this woman. She was present at his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Wasn’t Mary Magdalene
the womancaught in adultery? Probably not: that woman was unnamed. Didn’t she
pour ointment over Jesus’s feet and wipe them with her hair? Probably not: that Mary was the sister of Martha and Lazarus. The Mary Magdalene most people think they know is a combination of several Gospel women.
If Mary Magdalene were to walk into our company today, would we accept that we know nothing about her and try to find out more? Or would we cling to all those colourful “stories” about her? Would our judgement be based on the real person Magdalene or the one of gossip and rumour? Too many people tend to
make judgements first and find out the facts later.
We carry our own prejudices based on who we are, and where we are in life. Jesus reached out to her in kindness, to the
real Mary, the woman behind the facade people. Mary responded by devoting the rest of her life to following Jesus, no matter what it cost, being mistakenly identified with the adulterous woman, popular devotion portrays her as the repentant sinner,
The Gospel for her feast day portrays her as a woman whose devotion to Jesus brought her to the tomb early on that first Sunday morning, whose devotion also left her outside the tomb weeping when she discovered the body of Jesus was not there.
She sought the Lord but could not find him. But the Lord came seeking her and found her when he called her by name, “Mary.” We too seek the Lord, and we are also the object of His search. In fact, His search for us is prior to our search for him. Lie Mary, we struggle to make our way to the Lord, but He always makes his way to us and calls us by our name. He is the Good Shepherd: having laid down his life for us, He now calls us by name. In calling us to himself by name, the Lord also sends us out, as he sent out Mary Magdalene, to bring the good news of his Easter presence to those we meet, inviting us to be his messengers.
Blessings! Fr. Brian