Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene
Today’s reading is again from the prophet Jeremiah, who expresses God’s anguish and disappointment in his people who have abandoned them. The tone of Jeremiah’s words is emotional; he wants the people to understand just how treacherous are the acts they have been committing against God. In turning away from God, they have rejected his love and chosen idols. God’s passionate response to this is described in very human terms in order that the people might think of God in personal terms. The people’s continual turning away from God has made it so that they no longer see and hear as they should. They no longer recognize God in their midst, and, in particular, when Jesus begins to walk the earth, they cannot see and hear him as their God walking among them. In so doing, the people forsake God, “the source of living waters” (Jer. 2:13). This water image is emphasized throughout today’s psalm, Psalm 36. The response proclaims, “With you is the fountain of life, O Lord!” The fountain of life, the source of living waters—this is our God, this is Jesus. These Scripture readings invite us to open our lives to God, to respond to Jesus by seeing and hearing, by recognizing in God the love of our lives.
Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene, a person who in many ways represents for us a true and devoted love for God. So faithful was her commitment to Jesus that she could not abandon him even in his death, and instead returned to his tomb even before daybreak, so that she could be close to his body and mourn his passing. Upon seeing Jesus, she ran to the disciples to announce that Jesus had risen from the dead, and it is this act of sharing the good news that has given her the title “Apostle to the Apostles.”
But it has traditionally been taught that this wonderful saint, Mary Magdalene, so full of love for Christ, was also a great sinner before her conversion at his hands. If the Magdalene’s story is properly described as a love story, it is not a simple story, but a dramatic one, wherein – like the people of Israel – Mary had turned away from God and was brought back by God’s unfailing love for her. Her love story is one of redemption; once hindered from loving God, Mary Magdalene was freed and spent the rest of her life in fidelity to the one who had loved her.
Mary Magdalene’s devotion, combined with the passage from Jeremiah, might rightly make us feel unworthy. We are not as faithful as we ought to be, and we do not listen and watch Jesus as attentively as we ought to do. But we are not simply the people who bear the criticism of Jeremiah. Rather, by listening to Jeremiah and sharing in the story of Mary Magdalene, we find ourselves in the role of those who DO see, those who DO listen. We share in God’s anguish reflected in Jeremiah’s words. Like the Magdalene, we want to assure ourselves that Jesus is still a part of our lives even after his crucifixion. By sharing in these stories, we are privileged. We are also challenged. We know that we are called to more each day, called to return God’s love in a spirit of true fidelity and devotion.
Let us recommit ourselves to seeing and hearing Jesus, to recognizing him as the fountain of life. Through him, with him, and in him we have our being—our very sustenance for continuing in our daily activities. Let us be aware of this and rejoice in it! St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us!
- Maria Morrow