HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II. 22.07.2020.

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Mary Magdalene
Readings: Song of Songs (3: 1-4) or 2 Corinthians (5: 14-17); Psalm: (Ps 62: 2-6, 8-9) and John 20: 1-2, 11-18. 


THE MEMORIAL OF SAINT MARY MAGDALENE

 

Today the Holy Mother Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene, sometimes called Mary of Magdala, a Jewish woman who according to the four gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his death and resurrection. What else do we know about this saint? Could it be that the Mary Magdalene most people think they know is a combination of several women mentioned in the Gospels? Was she the one, caught in adultery? Was she the one that poured ointment at the feet of Jesus and wipe it with her hair?

 

To begin with, the name of the woman who was caught in adultery is unknown, and the Mary who poured ointment over Jesus’s feet was the sister of Martha and Lazarus (John 12:3). Mary Magdalene has been a controversial figure and has been portrayed as the repentant prostitute, who found healing in the feet of Christ, portrayed as a watcher at the cross, as an attendant of Christ’ burial and the first person to hear the words of the newly risen Christ as seen in the Gospel of today.

 

With her personality before her encounter with Christ, she probably had to endure negative comments from people who acted base on prejudices, just as we hardly identify ourselves with prostitutes, criminals or someone possessed with demons. Yet Christ reached out to her in kindness, he looked beyond the human judgmental aspect people saw in her, because of the tales that have been told about her, and she responded by devoting the rest of her life to follow Christ and support his ministry. Today’s gospel portrays her as a woman whose devotion to Jesus brought her to the tomb early on that first Sunday morning. Her heartfelt devotion to Jesus also left her outside the tomb weeping tears of loss when she discovered the body of Jesus was not there. She sought the Lord but could not find him. However, the Lord came seeking her and found her when he called her by her name, “Mary.”

 

Like Mary Magdalene, we too seek the Lord, and, like her, we are also the object of the Lord’s search. Indeed, the Lord’s search for us is prior to our search for him. He is the Good Shepherd who, having laid down his life for us, now calls us by name. As the Lord calls us by our names, he also sends us out as he did to Mary to bring the good news of his resurrection to his disciples. We pray through her intercession for conversion of sinners in the world and for victims of prejudices, for God to reach out to them through Christ our Lord. Amen! Peace be with you!

 

Fr. Ken Dogbo, OSJ

Location: Papalanto, Nigeria

Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 21, 2020 at 11:28 PM

    Good morning padre, many thanks for the incisive explanation in this homily about whom Mary Magdalene is and whom we presumed her to be. May this propel us to deeper knowledge of the scripture, through Christ our Lord, Amen.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MarySamJuly 22, 2020 at 3:28 AM

    Amen.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mazi Ejike OgorJuly 23, 2020 at 1:27 PM

    Thank you for Padre. You have corrected my misconception of Mary Magdalene

    ReplyDelete

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