Grow Christians

St. Mary Magdalene

Beckoned by the Holy

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I love everything about this new season of Epiphany—chalking the doors, eating King Cake, wearing crowns, and reflecting on the light. I even love saying the word epiphany—a word that connotes emergence, brightness, illumination, mystery, starlight, and revelation. The season of Epiphany gives me an opportunity to talk with my boys about how the holy beckons to us—sometimes in mystical and mysterious ways—in our everyday lives.

One such epiphany I look forward to sharing with them—especially as they mature in their lives as students of text and history—happened to the singer-songwriter Elizabeth (Libbie) Schrader in 2010. Schrader was quietly praying in a Brooklyn garden she loved; the garden happened to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary. As Schrader directed her prayer toward the Virgin Mary, she heard a voice reply, “Maybe you should talk to Mary Magdalene about that.”

Surprised by the specificity of the response to her prayer, Schrader allowed herself to be beckoned by the holy down a path to the unknown. The first step she took was to write and record a gorgeous song called Magdalene. (I don’t think you’ll be sorry if you pause and take a moment to watch and listen!)

Then, Schrader allowed herself to be beckoned by the holy in a more radical way; she enrolled at General Theological Seminary and embarked on a new career path to become a textual scholar of the New Testament. She studied a transcription of the oldest copy of the Gospel of John (known as Papyrus 66), While doing so, she noticed that, in the story of Lazarus, the name Mary had been crossed out twice. The first time “Mary” was crossed out, it was replaced with “Martha.” The second time “Mary” was crossed out, it was replaced with “the sisters.”

Schrader published her findings in the Harvard Theological Review, and she has gone on to pursue doctoral work at Duke Divinity School. Her fascinating scholarship suggests that early editors of John’s gospel may have deliberately minimized Mary Magdalene’s prominence in the story. A 2021 article Schrader published in the Journal of Biblical Literature further suggests that Mary Magdalene was not from Magdala as is commonly thought; in fact, it’s unlikely “Magdala” even existed as a place near the Sea of Galilee. Schrader’s scholarship instead suggests that Mary Magdalene’s name was more of an honorific meaning “the tower” or “magnified one”—thus signaling her prominence.

“Maybe you should talk to Mary Magdalene about that” indeed!

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Taking Time to Receive the Good News

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The morning our daughter started kindergarten, she posed for pictures in our driveway with tears in her eyes and a sheepish smile on her face. When I asked how she was feeling, she responded with a word I’ll never forget: “Nervousited.” Nervous and yet, still excited. She’s a child who feels all the feelings at once, so this brilliant word made sense to me. I learned later that she picked it up from her favorite character on My Little Pony (Rainbow Dash, of course). The first day of elementary school is certainly a time to be both nervous and excited. And I imagine the first time you experience a resurrection, one might feel both terrified and amazed. And that’s exactly how Mark describes Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome as they flee the empty tomb.

Mark’s account of the resurrection will be less familiar to your children. At 12 and 9 years old, I don’t know that our own kids had ever heard it before this year’s Good Book Club. It’s certainly not featured in any of the children’s Bibles  lining our bookshelves; those are all combinations of the other three gospel accounts of the resurrection. Mark’s version is missing for good reason—he doesn’t include appearances of the risen Christ or any male disciples. There’s no sharing of the Good News. There’s not even any joy, beyond the man dressed in a white robe sitting by the empty tomb telling them women what happened.

And yet, Mark’s account of the resurrection is absolutely perfect for children. Children know what it’s like to be nervousited. They understand how the women felt as they fled the empty tomb, filled with both fear and awe. Our children understand complex feelings, far better than adults most of the time. I know my own children will wake up this morning with the excitement of Easter alleluias, chocolate eggs, and new books in their Easter baskets. Only to be thrown back into the pandemic life of desk shields, masks, and distancing at school tomorrow.

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Mary Magdalene: Be Present and Share the Good News

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Holy Family with Mary Magdalene by Anthony van Dyck

This picture shows Mary Magdalene with the infant Jesus. I wonder if she was present with him in that part of his life and I’m not surprised that an artist thinking about this woman would have shown her present. Because if Mary Magdalene is anything, she is present. She is mentioned more than most of the disciples in the gospels (12 times to be exact), and yet we don’t know a lot about her.  We know that she received a gift of healing from Jesus when he cast seven demons from her.  Beyond that, we know that she was with Jesus. She was with him in his ministry, she was with him at his death, she was with his body at his burial and she was the first to be with the risen Lord.  

Luke tells us that Jesus “went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means” (Luke 8:1-3). Mary, after parting with her seven demons, changed her life course following Jesus to multiple cities and villages. I wonder what it was like as a woman to travel after a teacher during that time.

Matthew, Mark, and John all make a point to name Mary Magdalene as being with Jesus at his death. “There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee” (Matthew 27:55-56).  I wonder what it was like to be in that place. I wonder if she felt powerless. I wonder what the grief of that day was like for this woman who had been restored by Jesus and knew the power he had.

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Mary Magdalene’s Bold Hope in the Resurrection

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Terrified women share an experience with men they trust, but the men don’t believe them. They say the women are lying. One of these women in particular is publicly shamed and labeled with the slanderous reputation of being a prostitute. Powerful members of religious institutions attempt to silence her voice and degrade her because she intimidated them.

Two thousand years before the #MeToo movement, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and other women shared their story and were not believed. They preached the amazing news that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead, but the apostles did not believe them.

In both the #MeToo movement and in the resurrection stories from all four gospels, women are the credible witnesses. They deliver shocking news to doubtful people. Even though the disciples have no reason to be suspicious of these particular women who have traveled with them for quite some time now, women in general were not considered credible witnesses at this point in history. Women were instead seen as fickle and gullible and their testimony wasn’t even admissible in court under Jewish law. Theirs was a patriarchal culture and women had no public credibility.

And yet, God chooses women as the first witnesses of the resurrection. God chooses Mary Magdalene to preach the very first Easter sermon. Women are the last people standing at the foot of the cross and the first people to receive the good news at the empty tomb.

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Showing Up with Mary Magdalene

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Even though her eyes were swollen and sensitive from days of crying, her heart broken so that she felt she could hardly breath, Mary Magdalene made her way down the narrow, rocky path.  In my mind’s eye, I imagine her mind has been racing towards this moment since she and her grief-stricken friends laid the body of her dead Rabouni, her teacher, in the tomb three days earlier.  In her anxiety to get back to his body, to give it a real and sacred preparation for burial, she probably felt very overwhelmed. Not up to the task, perhaps, and out of her depth to be doing this important thing for the Son of God who had meant so much to her.

Yet on that path that morning, the jar of herbs in her hands, she must have realized that no matter how unqualified she felt—she was the only one showing up. If her Lord was to receive a proper burial, she was the only one approaching the tomb to see that it got done. So she took a deep breath, and approached the tomb. Then, miraculously, she heard him call her name.

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The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene reminds me of the strong women who shaped my life.

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When I learned that I was to be the father of a daughter, I was a bit terrified.

See, I grew up in a household with a very strong mother. My mom was a licensed home builder, one of the few women in my hometown to run such a business. She is smart, confident, hard working, tough, loving, loyal, and generous. However, between not having had a sister to all the complex messages that girls receive in today’s culture, I had anxiety concerning my ability to raise a young woman in this mold. There is definitely grace in that I married a strong woman from a family of strong women! But my anxieties about my own abilities persisted and still often haunt me.

Over the course of my faith journey, I have come to learn deeply from the many saintly women in my life. The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene gives me an opportunity to reflect on these amazing women.

Mary Magdalene is known as the Apostle to the Apostles and a myrrh-bearer. Mary Magdalene is often improperly conflated with other Marys in the Gospels. What we know for sure is this:

  • She was a woman of means who supported the ministry of Jesus after being healed of seven demons.
  • She was present at the crucifixion and burial.
  • She was the first to witness the risen Lord.

As the Apostle to the Apostles, Mary was the first messenger sent by the risen Jesus himself to share the good news of the resurrection: “I have seen the Lord!” In order to be a witness and receive this message, Mary went towards suffering. She is named first among the women who went to anoint the body of the buried Jesus.

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Celebrating St. Mary Magdalene

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Last week we shared a resource for celebrating the life of St. Mary Magdalene (and many more saints of the church) at home: a free e-book and activity guide called Meet the Saints. Today the Episcopal Church celebrates the the feast of St. Mary Magdalene.

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The Gospels count St. Mary Magdalene among the recently-healed-women who followed “Jesus and the Twelve” (Luke 8:1-2). I wrestle with this framing of Sister Mary. It positions her outside of Jesus’ inner circle, as if her sex made her ineligible to be counted among his disciples. Maybe it once did.

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