St. Mary Magdalene
Jn 20:1-2, 11-18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
I Have Seen the Lord
Mary of Magdala. Much has been written about her. So much of it is speculation, conjecture. What we know for certain from the Gospel accounts is this: she was healed of seven demons. After the healing, she cast her lot with the healer. She traveled with him, through thick and thin. When others fled, she steadfastly remained, watched him die an unimaginable death on a cross. She wept outside his tomb.
Is it any wonder Jesus appeared to her first? She was brave enough to companion him in his death. I suspect he alone knew she possessed the courage necessary to proclaim boldly the astonishing, incomprehensible truth that he had risen.
Mary mistook Jesus for a gardener – what a beautiful metaphor for God! How he labors for us! – and the “Gardener” missions her to sow the seeds of the resurrection. We too, if we truly believe the unbelievable truth of the resurrection, are called to sow seeds of Good News.
In the context of your daily living, where have you seen the Lord? How will you co-labor with the “Gardener” today in proclaiming the joy of the resurrection?
—Terresa Ford is a recent graduate of the Candler School of Theology at Emory University and holds an M.Div. She is a resident Spiritual Health Worker at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, and a Spiritual Direction resident at the Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center
Prayer
Gracious God,
through the intercession of Saint Mary Magdalene,
may we seek and see You in all things.
May we boldly proclaim Your resurrection in our daily living,
and in doing so, may we set the world on fire.
—Terresa Ford