Homily: July 22 - St. Mary Magdalene's Ardent Love for Christ

St. Mary Magdalene - Song of Songs 3:1-4 or 2 Corinthians 5:14-17;  Psalm 63; John 20:1-2, 11-18

It can be argued, that Mary Magdalene is the second-most important woman in the New Testament. Within the four Gospels, she is named 14 times, more than most of the apostles.  Yet, there is a lot of confusion about some of Mary Magdalene’s biographical information.

There is no scriptural evidence that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute.  Nor is she the woman to have washed the feet of Jesus, that was Mary of Bethany in John’s Gospel;

Movies like The Last Temptation of Christ and Jesus Christ Superstar portray Mary of Magdala as young, beautiful and as having the hots for Jesus, and we won’t even go into what Dan Brown, author of The Davinci Code has to say about her. 

Mary Magdalene was a woman of deep faith and ardent love for the Lord. Everything we know about her speaks of her love for Jesus. St. Luke tells us that she helped provide for the needs of Jesus and His apostles out of her resources (Lk 8:3).

She suffered at the foot of the cross with Jesus (Jn 19:25). At dawn, Mary Magdalene was at Jesus' tomb (Jn 20:1). Love sent her to be the first witness for the risen Christ (Jn 20:18).

Listen to the words of the preface of the old Mass for Mary Magdalene: O God, You enkindled in her heart the fire of an ardent love for Christ that endowed her with freedom of spirit, and you infused in her the courage to follow Christ faithfully, even to Calvary.  After his death on the cross, she sought her Master so zealously that she merited to meet the risen Lord and to be the first to announce the Easter joy to the apostles.

Saint Mary Magdalene who was present at the crucifixion was said to have meditated on that scene every day for the rest of her life.  She teaches us how one who perseveres and stands with Jesus on Calvary can be a great joyful witness of his resurrection.

Coming to the Eucharist, we are like Mary Magdalene finding Him whom our hearts long for.  May our love for Him impel us to spread His good news for the glory of God and salvation of souls.