Feast of St. Mary Magdalene by Rita Houlihan, Future Church

 

Feast of St. Mary Magdalene

Image: Mary Magdalene Discovers the Empty Tomb – John 20:1. (c) Laura James. For Rita Houlihan/FutureChurch. Used with permission. All rights reserved.  Today we celebrate the Feast of Mary Magdalene. I am honored to share a reflection on this remarkable woman, the “prophet, disciple and apostle of the Risen One” (S. Schneiders, IHM. BC lecture, 2013). This year, with so much disinformation, with “deep fakes” and misuse of social media, I’ve been thinking about the truth and how do we know what is true? I keep hearing part of the Easter Sequence in my head, a lovely prayer/poem from around 1050. The narrator asks “the truthful” Mary to tell us what she saw “on the way”: “I saw the tomb of the living Christ and the glory of his rising.” Bright angels attesting, The shroud and napkin resting. Yes, Christ my hope has risen; To Galilee he goes before you.” The narrator then tells us to listen to the “truthful Mary” and not be misled: “Happy they who bear the witness, the truthful Mary’s word believing above the tales of crowds deceiving. Christ indeed from death is risen …” Why did the author of this prayer trust Mary Magdalene to tell the truth? Perhaps it was her sustained faith - she and other women traveled and served with Jesus from the start of his ministry in Galilee (Lk 8:1-3). She showed up for the worst and the best – she was present to Jesus as he suffered and died (Jn 19:25-27), present at his burial (Mt 27:61, Mk 15:46-47, Lk 23:55-56) and first at the tomb (Mt 28:1-2, Mk 16:1-4, Lk 24:1-3, Jn 20:1). She never abandoned him. There, at his tomb in the garden, Jesus commissioned her. He gave her his Holy Order to bring us his Easter invitation to dwell in his Father’s house. (Jn 20:1-18). Now, in 2024, she serves as my model truth-teller – a consistent friend, who shows up for you and for others, and who is happy to share her good news! Resurrection Blessings, Rita L. Houlihan, FutureChurch Board Member