Together on the Journey: A Weekly Word from Archbishop Hebda
Today as the Church in the United States comes down the mountain of the recently completed Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis to the “plains” of everyday life, we are blessed that the Church Universal is celebrating the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, whose annual commemoration was elevated in 2016 by Pope Francis from a memorial to a feast. That signifies that the Church recognizes the particular importance of Mary Magdalene’s witness and example for the whole Church and wants us to remember her role in salvation history with greater festivity. It may also reflect Pope Francis’ special devotion to this great saint and his sensitivity to the gifts of women in the Church.
I suspect that saints and scholars would all agree that what is most notable about Mary Magdalene is her role in sharing the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. Each of the four Gospels names Mary Magdalene as one of the women who came to Jesus’ tomb the morning of the Resurrection and found it to be empty. Saint John’s Gospel gives us the greatest detail about Mary’s experience on that first Easter morning. Weeping outside of the tomb, surmising that someone had taken Jesus’ body, Mary approaches a man that she believes to be the cemetery’s gardener, not recognizing that he was actually Jesus. Once Jesus utters her name, Mary, she recognizes him and is delighted to accept the mission that Jesus gave her to announce his resurrection to the apostles. Overjoyed, she readily shares this Good News with them, becoming in this way the Apostle to the Apostles.
Mary Magdalene’s witness and response to the Lord’s call bids us to reflect on how we may listen for the Lord’s voice in our own lives. The prophet Isaish speaks to this powerfully when he relates his own dialogue with the Lord: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). The Lord wants to take us to himself, to heal us and strengthen us for mission. We see other instances in the Bible that make it clear that the choice is ours: We may reject the call (Genesis 3:7) or embrace it (1 Samuel 3:10, Isaiah 6:8, Act 9:10), responding wholeheartedly with a “Here I am” that reflects our desire to do the Lord’s will.
How are we going to respond when the Lord calls us by name – perhaps calling us to a certain vocation, or to use our gifts in a manner that builds up the Church? In his homily at the concluding Mass of the Eucharistic Congress, the pope’s special delegate, Cardinal Tagle, reminded all of us to “go”—to take the gift of our faith and to go forth and share it, following in the footsteps of that first Apostle to the Apostles. Please join me in asking Saint Mary Magdalene for her intercession that we may hear the Lord call us by name, recognize him, and respond with joyful obedience.
Subscribe now to receive Together on the Journey in your inbox every week.
