Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 22, 2019
On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “They have taken my Lord,
and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
“Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her,
“Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going 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 then reported what he told her.
April 27, 2019, I was on cloud nine. It was the best Easter week of my life as I visited nearby family, tailgated Triduum services, and enjoyed surprisingly splendid weather with the best of friends. Then on Easter Saturday, I attended the priestly ordinations for the Congregation of Holy Cross. At the reception in the Main Building’s rotunda, I shared my elation with a friend, who commented that I was like Mary Magdalene, “full of the joy of the Resurrection and surrounded by all her priest-friends.”
I was floored. I had never really thought much about Mary Magdalene’s joyful witness to the Resurrection.
Perhaps I never considered it because the majority of today’s Gospel focuses on her sorrow and confusion. Where is Mary’s Easter joy? The Gospel swiftly concludes after she recognizes Jesus, so there is no mention of rejoicing, no explicit description of exultation. Instead, we see Jesus admonish her to stop clinging to him and instead to go and share the Good News. I imagine Mary must have been shocked at first, but she also must have believed—because she obeyed. And because she believed, she must have been joyful beyond description.
Jesus sends her quickly for a reason. Mary Magdalene’s joyful embrace of her Lord cannot be kept exclusively to herself. Mary is changed by her encounter with the Risen Christ; her eyes are opened when he calls her by name. Jesus teaches us that this personal encounter is meant to be shared.
True Easter joy can never be stagnant. Our personal embrace with the Risen Christ should open up to include others. Today and always, let us be active in our joy and bring others to the embrace of “my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Prayer
God of life, may we be your light in a world of darkness. Like Mary Magdalene, who was healed of her demons, send us your grace. Help us to carry the good news of your love to those who live in tombs of pain and sorrow and suffering. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Mary Magdalene has been called the second-most important woman in the Gospels, after Jesus’ mother, Mary. The Gospels mention her 12 times, more than most of the apostles.
Her name comes from her origin in Magdala, a region in northern Galilee. The Gospels of Mark and Luke tell us that Jesus cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene. After that, she traveled with Jesus and his followers, and played a prominent role in witnessing Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.
She remained at the foot of the cross when most of Jesus’ followers left him, and she is remembered for her courage in faithfully standing with Jesus even as he faced death.
Mary Magdalene is the only person noted by all four Gospels as testifying to Jesus’ resurrection. John and Mark portray her as the first witness of the resurrection, and St. Thomas Aquinas honored her with the title “the Apostle to the Apostles” because she was the first to share the news of the resurrection.
For generations, tradition confused Mary Magdalene with two other women of the Gospel. She is not the same person as Mary of Bethany, who is sister to Martha and Lazarus. She is also not the unnamed woman of Luke’s Gospel (7:36-50), who was uncritically assumed to be a prostitute. Both of these other women anoint Jesus’ feet with oil, which is why Mary Magadalene is mistakenly portrayed with a jar of ointment, as in this stained glass window from the Basilica.
We do know that Mary Magdalene was a pillar of the early Christian community, a faithful follower of Jesus who was healed by him, and one of the first people to witness and share the good news.
Various traditions compete to tell the story of what happened to Mary Magdalene in her later life. One legend has it that she retired to Ephesus with Jesus’ mother, Mary. Another has it that she was transported to France with others and evangelized that area. Relics of St. Mary Magdalene rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, and she is depicted in stained glass in the Basilica as well as in a wall mural there.
St. Mary Magdalene, you stood with Jesus at the cross, and were the first witness of the resurrection—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Mary Magdalene is in the public domain. Last accessed March 20, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
