ST. MARY MAGDALENE
(July 22)
“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher).” (Jn 20: 11-16)
Today I’m reflecting on this passage, because it is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene (NC). Centuries later, she was to be recognized by the Church as “Equal-to-the-Apostles,” but on that Sunday morning two millennia ago, she was not “with” the Apostles. She stood alone, “weeping outside the tomb.” And by all indications, she felt very much alone, as if she were the only one who had suffered the loss of “her” beloved Teacher. They have taken away “my” Lord, she says, – not “our” Lord. And she’s trying to handle this situation, on her own: Tell me where you have laid him, she says, and “I” will take him away. I love that! She was going to carry the Body of Christ away, somehow, …perhaps on her back, I don’t know. Apparently, the other women had gone home, and it’s interesting that Mary didn’t think of appealing to the Apostles, the eleven able-bodied men who might have helped with her plan. There was apparently a disconnect between the “Equal-to-the-Apostles,” Mary, and the Apostles. When the risen Lord reveals Himself to her (as quoted above), He does not reproach her for this “disconnect,” but does nudge her to “connect,” by sending her off to tell His “brethren,” the Apostles, of her encounter with Him (Jn 20: 17).
My point? Even while we experience certain ups and downs in our “personal” relationship with the Body of Christ, we need not attempt to go through these alone, although sometimes that might seem simpler. In the Church, we are called to “connection,” or “communion,” also with the rest of His “brethren.” By reaching out for the help of others, when we need it, we also help them, to see the risen Lord at work amongst us, in the “communion of the saints.” St. Mary Magdalene, Equal-to-the-Apostles, pray to God for us!
