On the heels of “Women’s History Month” (every March, by Presidential proclamation), which can sometimes seem like nothing more than a media marketing tool, I am prompted to remember that, although women were of very little legal and societal importance in the ancient world, Jesus treats women with respect and compassion throughout the Gospels. In fact, women are privy to many of the most pivotal moments of His earthly ministry.
Easter is no exception.
The Gospel reading for today’s Mass is the continuation of the scene recounted on Easter, wherein the first person to return to the tomb of Jesus following the crucifixion is a woman, Mary of Magdala. John 20 opens with Mary’s arrival at the tomb on the first day of the week (Sunday) to fulfill the traditional obligation to anoint His body as part of Jewish burial ritual. Mk 16:1; Lk 23:55-56; 24:1. Although she had undoubtedly heard Him speak of “rising on the third day” (Lk 9:22), death, not life, was on her mind that morning.
The Gospel tells us that she reported the empty tomb to Peter and the “other disciple whom Jesus loved,” who both rush to the site to confirm her report. The Easter reading concludes at verse 9, which tells us that the disciples “did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”
Verse 10 (which was not read on Sunday) reveals that “[t]hen the disciples returned home.”
But not Mary. The readings pick up today with Verse 11, “Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping.”
Mary of Magdala led a difficult, broken life until she encountered Jesus. The Gospel of Luke tells us that He drove seven demons from her. Thereafter, she accompanied Him as He preached and taught, along with the twelve Apostles and several other women. Lk 8:2. Mary Magdalene accompanied Jesus all the way to the Cross, where, with His mother Mary; Mary, the wife of Clopas; and the beloved disciple, she witnessed His agony and death. Jn 19:25-26.
It was out of her love for Jesus that she stood outside the tomb weeping.
There is a beautiful passage about this scene in the book Life of Christ by (Ven.) Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (Image Books/Doubleday edition 2008). In it Sheen describes the heaviness of soul of Mary Magdalene on that first Easter morning. When she finds the tomb empty, she thinks it has been desecrated and His body laid elsewhere. She tells the man whom she believes to be the gardener that if he will only tell her where Jesus has been laid, she will take Him away (Jn 20:15-16):
Poor Magdalen! Worn from Good Friday, wearied by Holy Saturday, with life dwindled to a shadow and strength weakened to a thread, she would “take Him away.” [Then the “gardener,” who unbeknownst to her is Christ, speaks her name, and she recognizes Him.]
After the mental midnight, there was this dazzle; after hours of hopelessness, this hope; after the search, this discovery; after the loss, this find. Magdalen was prepared only to shed reverential tears over the grave; what she was not prepared for was to see Him walking on the wings of the morning.
Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the Risen Lord changed everything. After revealing Himself to her, Jesus gave her a commission: She was to go forth to share the Good News of the Resurrection with His disciples, whom He now called “brothers”. Jn 20:17.
I long to have Mary’s same love for Jesus, to be renewed and “dazzled” as she was. That love leads to encounter. Will we encounter the Risen Christ in prayer, in his word, and most especially, in the Eucharist? Will we allow that encounter to change everything?
St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us.