An Easter reading from the Gospels
(with thanks to Cynthia Bourgeault-"The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: at the heart of Christianity")
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me… “
Through the ordeal of death
Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene …
Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved. Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph[a]), and Salome. Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last…
Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left.
Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.
Through the bright dawn of a New Day
Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. …taking the spices they had prepared.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake! They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. So the women went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.
Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is raised from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come; see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”
The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him.
She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
“Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene immediately found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deeds will be remembered and discussed.
All 4 Gospels witness to Mary Magdalene as the premiere witness to the Crucifixion, the witnessing of the death of Jesus and most importantly, his Return to Life in the Resurrection.
The place of honor held by Mary Magdalene is so strong that even the heavy hand of a male dominated ecclesiology could not dislodge it over the centuries. Lord knows they have tried. From parish priests to the Pope himself, have sought to discredit MM’s prominence. It was the misogynist Gregory, not the word, that labeled MM a penitent whore.
Why were the men so intimidated by her authority?
Was she indeed the “One Who Got Jesus” best?
Could she have understood the core of his mission better than anyone on earth?
Is it possible that MM, not any one else, stood by Jesus through thick and thin and never ever was honored for it?
All 4 Gospels insist that while the male disciples were fleeing, Mary Magdalene stood firm.
She does not run, betray or lie about her commitment, she stands firm. She witnesses.
Hers is a clearly a demonstration of either the deepest human love or the highest spiritual understanding of what Jesus was teaching, and perhaps it is both.
Why do all our Holy Week liturgies tell and re-tell the story of Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus, while the steady and unwavering witness of Mary Magdalene is not even noticed?
How would the understanding of the Paschal Mystery change if we placed more emphasis on the passage: ‘Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.’
Instead of emphasizing that Jesus died alone “rejected by men”, let us reinforce that one did stand by Him and never left Him, throughout His grisly ordeal. Surely this story is as deeply and truly there as any other scriptural facts we can glean from the Easter Sunday ritual.
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me… “
Through the ordeal of death
Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene …
Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved. Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph[a]), and Salome. Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last…
Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left.
Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.
Through the bright dawn of a New Day
Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. …taking the spices they had prepared.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake! They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. So the women went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.
Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is raised from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come; see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”
The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him.
She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
“Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene immediately found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deeds will be remembered and discussed.
All 4 Gospels witness to Mary Magdalene as the premiere witness to the Crucifixion, the witnessing of the death of Jesus and most importantly, his Return to Life in the Resurrection.
The place of honor held by Mary Magdalene is so strong that even the heavy hand of a male dominated ecclesiology could not dislodge it over the centuries. Lord knows they have tried. From parish priests to the Pope himself, have sought to discredit MM’s prominence. It was the misogynist Gregory, not the word, that labeled MM a penitent whore.
Why did the church ‘diss’ MM so terribly? It causes me to wonder.Excerpt from the Wikipedia regarding Gregory’s Sermon on Mary Magdalene
In a sermon whose text is given in Patrologia Latina,Gregory stated that he believed "that the woman Luke called a sinner and John called Mary was the Mary out of whom Mark declared that seven demons were cast" (Hanc vero quam Lucas peccatricem mulierem, Joannes Mariam nominat, illam esse Mariam credimus de qua Marcus septem damonia ejecta fuisse testatur), thus identifying the sinner of Luke 7:37, the Mary of John 11:2 and 12:3 (the sister of Lazarus and Martha of Bethany), and Mary Magdalene, from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons, related in Mark 16:9.
While most Western writers shared this view, it was not seen as a Church teaching, but as an opinion, the pros and cons of which were discussed. With the liturgical changes made in 1969, there is no longer mention of Mary Magdalene as a sinner in Roman Catholic liturgical materials.
The Eastern Orthodox Church has never accepted Gregory's identification of Mary Magdalene with the sinful woman.
Why were the men so intimidated by her authority?
Was she indeed the “One Who Got Jesus” best?
Could she have understood the core of his mission better than anyone on earth?
Is it possible that MM, not any one else, stood by Jesus through thick and thin and never ever was honored for it?
All 4 Gospels insist that while the male disciples were fleeing, Mary Magdalene stood firm.
She does not run, betray or lie about her commitment, she stands firm. She witnesses.
Hers is a clearly a demonstration of either the deepest human love or the highest spiritual understanding of what Jesus was teaching, and perhaps it is both.
Why do all our Holy Week liturgies tell and re-tell the story of Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus, while the steady and unwavering witness of Mary Magdalene is not even noticed?
How would the understanding of the Paschal Mystery change if we placed more emphasis on the passage: ‘Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.’
Instead of emphasizing that Jesus died alone “rejected by men”, let us reinforce that one did stand by Him and never left Him, throughout His grisly ordeal. Surely this story is as deeply and truly there as any other scriptural facts we can glean from the Easter Sunday ritual.
- How would it change the emotional timbre of the day?
- How could it affect the feeling we have about ourselves?
- About women as Disciples of Christ?
- About the place of women in the church?
- About the nature of redemptive love?
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