The Appearance to Mary of Magdala

Today's Reflections

The Appearance to Mary of Magdala 

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Jn 20:11-18

¹¹Mary [of Magdala] stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb ¹²and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. ¹³And 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.” ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus 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.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. ¹⁷Jesus 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.’ ” ¹⁸Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and what he told her.

Reflection:

I have seen the Lord. This announcement Mary of Magdala makes first to the disciples. She is thus called by early Christian writers as the apostle to the apostles, the first bringer of the good news to the apostles themselves.

What an unlikely witness! First, she is a woman, and the witness of women is not considered valid in Jewish courts of law. Second, according to the gospels, from her seven (not one) devils were driven. And yet Jesus chooses her to be the first bearer of the good news to the disciples.

You and I have also been commissioned by Christ to preach the good news of the resurrection and of the risen Christ to other people. And we have no reason to refuse because we do not have the handicaps under which Mary Magdalene labored.

To whom is the risen Jesus sending you

especially this Easter?