Mary of Magdala - Who Was She?
The Joint Meeting of Leadership (JML) is a gathering of leadership from all four of the Maryknoll expressions and meets about every 6 weeks. It provides a forum to share what is happening within each expression and search together for ways how all of us might collaborate. Last week it was the Affiliates turn to facilitate the session. As July 22nd (the day we met) was the feast of Mary Magdalene, we focused on her for the opening reflection. She is such an interesting, often misunderstood figure who can inspire and challenge our own faith. The prayer follows with the reflection questions included. (Bob Short)
Feast of Mary of Magdala [July 22] – Apostle to the Apostles
In the light of eternity, we’re here for a very short time, really. We’re here for one thing, ultimately: to learn how to love, because God is love. Love is our origin, love is our ground, and love is our destiny. —James Finley
Who Was Mary Magdalene?
There are several Marys in the Bible. In addition to Mary the mother of Jesus, there is Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus; Mary the mother of James and Joseph; Mary the wife of Clopas. Equally important, there are three unnamed women who are expressly identified as sinners—the woman with a “bad name” who wipes Jesus’ feet with ointment as a signal of repentance, a Samaritan woman whom Jesus meets at a well and an adulteress whom Pharisees haul before Jesus to see if he will condemn her.
The label “prostitute” has stuck fast to Mary Magdalene ever since Pope Gregory, who conflated her with Mary of Bethany and, citing Luke (8:1-3) and Mark (16:9) which make a brief reference to Christ ridding Mary of “seven demons”, pronounced Mary Magdalene a “sinful woman” in the year 591. The (apocryphal) Gospel of Philip and, in recent years, art and media (e.g., Dan Brown) have even portrayed Mary Magdalene as Jesus’ wife.
But neither theory — penitent prostitute nor devoted spouse — actually matches what can be said about Mary Magdalene from what’s written in the Bible. The canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John place Mary as witness to Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection She was a woman from Magdala, a small Galilean town known for its fishing, who became a female disciple and the first witness to Jesus’ resurrection. Mary went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord, and this is what he said to me” (John 20:18). It is on the basis of this announcement that Mary earned the traditional title of “Apostle to the Apostles.”
What she teaches us about courage, love and a woman’s loyalty
{Cynthia Bourgeault, theologian, Episcopal priest and member of Richard Rohr’s Contemplation & Action Center, presents a strong image and poses provocative questions that go to the heart of the matter.}
“All four gospels insist that when all the other disciples are fleeing, Mary Magdalene stands firm. She does not run; she does not betray or lie about her commitment; she witnesses. Hers is clearly a demonstration of either the deepest human love or the highest spiritual understanding of what Jesus was teaching, perhaps both. But why, one wonders, do the Holy Week liturgies tell and re-tell the story of Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus, while the steady, unwavering witness of Magdalene is not even noticed?
How would our understanding of the Paschal Mystery change if even that one sentence that I finally heard at Vézelay [“I have seen the Lord, and this is what he said to me”] was routinely included in the Good Friday and Palm Sunday Passion narratives? What if, instead of emphasizing that Jesus died alone and rejected, we reinforced that one stood by him and did not leave?—for surely this other story is as deeply and truly there in the scripture as is the first.
Discussion – respond to anyone.
· How would this change the emotional timbre of the day?
· How would it affect our feelings about ourselves?
· About the place of women in the church?
· About the nature of redemptive love?
· And above all, why is the apostle to the apostles not herself an apostle?