The Feast of Mary Magdalene

This evening at 5.30 we'll have a simple eucharist to observe her feast day and then I will go to vestry. Below are the few words I will offer. I anticipate a congregation of one other person.

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In the story of Mary Magdalene, whose feast day is today, John tells not the story of a sinner as the other gospels do when faced with the person of Mary Magdalene, but the story of the first witness to the resurrection mystery. In John’s gospel, Mary Magdalene stands weeping at the tomb, not quite knowing what to do, other than to be there. In the midst of her grief, the risen Christ comes to her, asking her why she is weeping. Not recognising who stands before her, Mary expresses her grief and her wish. Only when Christ calls her by name, does Mary understand that it is Jesus speaking to her. Yet this Jesus tells her to let go of him, but as she does, to go tell the others that he has risen.

As understated as this imperative is, Jesus’ asking Mary to inform the other disciples of the resurrection is nothing short of remarkable. Augustine in the fourth century recognised how astounding Mary’s mission of evangelism was when he wrote that she was the apostola apostolarum, the apostle of the apostles.

According to the blurb on the back of the icon I am about to pass around [in the photo here], after the Ascension she journeyed to Rome where she was admitted to the court of Tiberius Caesar because of her high social standing. After describing how poorly Pilate had administered justice at Jesus’ trial, she told Caesar that Jesus had risen from the dead. To help explain his resurrection, she picked up an egg from the dinner table. Caesar responded that a human being could no more rise from the dead than the egg in her hand turn red. The egg turned red immediately, which is why red eggs have been exchanged at Easter for centuries in the Byzantine East.

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For Mary to proclaim the risen Christ, she needed two things: faith and love. Faith that this rabbi whom she had followed had risen as evidenced by the empty grave and a deep and abiding love in and for him. A poem by a Nicaraguan, Claribel Alegría, begins,

I loved you Jesus
I loved you
and you also loved me

The poem ends with the line that says it all for me,

I don’t want to cure myself
of this love.

Part of our life-long journey is to gain faith and love in Jesus and then proclaim it. Each one of us will come to know and love Jesus in our own way but when we discover that love, we will not want ever to shake it off. Having known it we are then able to love others in that same way. There may be times when we are in the doldrums and ordinariness of this love as with any long-term relationship, but if we stick with the long-haul, we will be blessed and can bless others with it.
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So Mary’s mission telling the good news remains ours. As those baptised with water and marked and sealed in Christ’s name for ever, we also are called to run as quickly as we can to tell others of the love in Christ that we have experienced in our lives. As those whom Christ calls again and again by name, whose voice can fill that yearning chasm in our souls, we are called to share that love with others. As those who participate in the regular breaking of bread and in the prayers of the gathered community, we are called to witnesses to the God of faith, hope and love.