MONDAY, SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene
Sg 3:1-4 / 2 Cor 5:14-17; Ps 63:2-6,8-9; Jn 20:1-2,11-18
A HARBINGER OF AN EMPTY TOMB
We are celebrating today the feast of St Mary Magdalene, one of the interesting and inspiring characters in the Gospels. Her life was empty like a tomb before she met the Lord. Thereafter, as she followed the Lord closely, and witnessed the crucifixion, burial and the resurrection, she became the harbinger of an empty tomb that proclaimed the Risen Lord. Mary Magdalene was one of the disciples of the Lord. She followed Jesus along with the twelve apostles and some other women. She was healed of seven demons, liberated from all kinds of ailments and experienced perfect healing and liberation from the Lord (Lk 8:1-2). Mary Magdalene’s presence during the crucial moments of Jesus’ life on earth cannot be ignored. She was present at the crucifixion and the burial. She was present along with other women at the foot of the Cross (Mk 15:40). She witnessed the burial of Jesus (Mk 15:47). After the burial, she sat at the tomb (Mt 27:61).
The account of resurrection will be incomplete without Mary Magdalene. She is the first one to testify to the resurrection of Jesus. She was the first one to come to the tomb. She witnessed the stone taken away and the tomb being empty (Jn 20:1). Immediately, she spreads the news of the empty tomb (Jn 20:2). She becomes the first harbinger of the empty tomb. She remained weeping at the tomb, and there at the empty tomb the truth of the resurrection was revealed to her. There at the empty tomb, she encountered the angels and thereafter met the risen Lord (Jn 20:11-17). She went and told the disciples, “I have seen the Lord” (Jn 20:18).
Mary Magdalene’s empty life was filled by the Lord. The empty tomb of the Lord announces His resurrection. Our empty lives become full when we encounter the Risen Lord. With Mary Magdalene, let us become the harbingers of the empty tomb and the Risen Lord.
Response: For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord, my God.
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