Mary Magdalene
“Apostle of apostles”
Today is the feast of one of the greatest Saints (apostles) in the Christian tradition — Mary Magdalene — apostle of apostles or the first witness of resurrection. In the gospel of John (20, 11–18) we have the first encounter of the resurrected Jesus with Mary Magdalene. In the song of songs, we read, “ i have found him whom my heart loves”. That is so apt for Mary. She was so distressed after the death of Jesus, and later with the missing of his body from the tomb. When Jesus called her name “Mary”, she recognised Jesus, the one whom her heart loved. Anyone would have loved to stay with Jesus, in contemplation or in his presence. But Jesus gives her a mission of going to his disciples and announcing the news of the resurrection. And she listens to that invitation of Jesus. For me, this is one of the beautiful summaries of the Gospel.
Two thoughts from this event are,
- It's good to listen to God calling our names, just as he called that of Mary.
- In the incident of Mary-Martha, sitting at the feat of Jesus was extolled. Today risen Jesus was inviting Mary Magdalene for another kind of mission. Yes, it is important to discern.
