We have three powerful readings today, which is a little unusual. It’s unusual in several ways, but one of the reasons is because there is no psalm today. Normally we have an old testament reading, a psalm and a reading from the gospel every day, but today there is no psalm. Part of the reason for that might be because in the first reading God tells Moses that the Egyptians would pursue the Israelites into the sea in their chariots, and then God would destroy them. The next reading we have in place of the psalm is all about God’s glorious power, when He actually did drown the Egyptian army in the sea who were pursuing the Israelites in their chariots.
Then next thing that is a little unusual is that the readings from the old testament seem to have nothing to do with Mary Magdalene in the gospel today. Today is the memorial of Mary Magdalene. However, if you take a little closer look there are a few things the readings have in common, mainly that Moses parted the Red Sea through the power of God and it was a triumph over a seemingly impossible situation. It was a magnificent defeat against the forces of man and the forces of nature as well. Moses parting the Red Sea was literally, one of the biggest events in the old testament because God himself set his people free and gave them a new life.
The gospel today is about Jesus defeating death. He triumphed over death itself and set us free from our sins and gave us new life as well. This became the most profoundly important event in the history of mankind, when Jesus rose from the dead. This of course, is the most important event that was recorded in the new testament as well.
However, these things are really beside the point, especially considering today is the memorial of Mary Magdalene. Saint Mary Magdalene was the first person to come to Christ’s tomb and she was alone. It is really awesome that Jesus first appeared to a woman who had been quite a sinner in her former life. The Lord did not appear to his disciples or even his own mother first, he appeared to a woman who had been a notorious sinner. This is what the Lord’s resurrection from the dead was really all about. His crucifixion and defeat over death proved to the world that there really is life after death and Jesus paid the price for our sins so we could go to heaven too.
What is totally awesome about Mary Magdalene is how much she loved the Lord. If you remember, she stood at the foot of the cross too, when everyone else had deserted him except for Mary and John. And, here she is all by herself at Christ’s tomb before the sun had even come up. Had she been crying most of the night? I guess we will never know. But, her love for Jesus touched his heart because when she turned around and saw him, Jesus asked her why she was crying? When she told him it was because of him, Jesus spoke her name and revealed himself to her. She must have instinctively reached out to touch him. Before we move on, it is kind of neat to note that Mary Magdalene’s first reaction was to touch the Lord. We instinctively want to touch those we love and nothing really conveys the feelings of love that we have for another person, like touching them. It is an intimacy we do not share with just anyone, but it is important. There have been studies that have shown that babies do not thrive and are not healthy, if they are not touched. Adults are like that too.
However, Jesus must have been very recently risen from the dead because he didn’t want Mary to touch him. Later in the gospels he let Thomas touch him though. A final act of love that Jesus showed in today’s gospel reading was to ask Mary to go tell his disciples that he was alive and that she had seen him. Of course she did not hesitate, but did exactly what he told her to do.
Many women in the Catholic church believe that since only men are ordained in our church that this means women are not important. Today’s gospel says otherwise. Jesus chose Mary Magdalene to be the first human being to see him after he had risen from the dead. He could have waited until later to appear to his disciples, like he did later in the gospel accounts, but he didn’t. He let a woman, Mary Magdalene, to be the first person to announce his resurrection from the dead.
Ladies, we should take note of our place in the Lord’s heart and in his church. Titles and our position in life are not what is important. Saint Mary Magdalene shows us what is of real importance, and that is how much we love the Lord and one another.
