St. Mary Magdalene, “The apostle to the Apostles”

 

Today, in the liturgical calendar of the Church, we commemorate St. Mary Magdalene who was delivered from demoniac possession and whose love for Jesus carried her all the way to the cross; and now sits in the Heavenly kingdom awaiting for us with open arms to be united with the Lord she devoutly professed. The church has beautifully placed verses from chapter 20 of the Gospel of John as the Gospel of the day which is filled with many important points. In the Gospel, we read the story of the Resurrection and the important role St. Mary Magdalene had in it. In the early morning of the first say of the week, that is Sunday, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb of Jesus. It was not only early in the morning but was still dark. The Evangelist was very careful to describe the scene in this way since the darkness is a reference to the book of Genesis, in particular the verse “let there be light” since it signifies that a new creation – a miracle-- is about to happened. And it is no different in the Gospel today.  That miracle which we read happened in the early morning when the sun was coming out is the Resurrection of Jesus whom Mary Magdalene saw on the cross a few days before. Not only this, but the stone had been taken away. The stone, it seems to me, is a presentation of the barrier between life and death, and it can only be God the Father who could destroy – or open in this case—that barrier between life and death. Now, another important point we read in the Gospel is how Jesus calls Mary Magdalene by name after she continues to weep while having a conversation with Him. This is crucial for it reminds us of how Jesus calls his sheep by name for he knows the sheep entrusted to Him. 

 

 

Having explained some relevant point in the Gospel, one must wonder why is it that Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene in the first place? Fulton sheen says that it was fitting that Mary Magdalene was the first one who saw Jesus since only a repentant sinner, who had herself risen from the grave of sin to the newness of life, could fittingly understand the triumph of life over death. Or as St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us, “Just as a woman had announced the words of death to the first man, so also a woman was the first to announce to the apostles the words of life.” And this is exactly why St. Mary Magdalene receives the title of “The apostle to the Apostles.” To be an apostle simply means to proclaim the Risen lord in word and deed. 

 

This, then, leads me to my last point. How is it that we can learn from the life of this saint, especially in these difficult times we are seeing in the life of the church? In the end of the Gospel, we read how Jesus commands her to go and proclaim to the apostles what she had witness herself. Jesus uses Mary Magdalene as an instrument to proclaim His great victory despite the uncertainty of the times! And it is the same for us today. The same Jesus who appeared to her that early morning of the Resurrection, now appears to us sacramentally in the Mass. And if we have encounter Him and receive Him, we must go out to the world, just as St. Mary Magdalene did, and announced to everyone we meet his message of love and salvation. The reading from St. Paul reminds us that the love of Christ—that is a sacrificial love on the cross that is pour out in our hearts by the Holy spirit—must be spread by word and deed. This love of Christ transforms us, so the old things pass away and the new things come to be. In other words, this sacrificial love allows us to die for ourselves so He can live in us. And this is precisely the strength we need as we see an increase of persecution because of our faith. This persecution we are seeing right now will not get any better, but we have Jesus on our side who will provide for us the necessary means to keep the Mission of His church alive. He certainly used St. Mary Magdalene as an instrument to proclaim that same Mission. Today, let us as her intercession, so we can continue to proclaim the same Jesus she proclaimed devoutly and obediently.