I have Seen the Lord!
Introduction
The memorial of St Mary Magdalene was elevated by Pope Francis (on June 10, 2016) to a Feast, arguing that a FIRST WITNESS to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is equally a primary evangelizer, a disciple. Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the congregation, wrote in a Vatican newspaper that in celebrating “an evangelist who proclaims the central joyous message of Easter,” St. Mary Magdalene’s feast day, therefore, is a call for all Christians to “reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the new evangelization and the greatness of the mystery of divine mercy.” St Thomas Aquinas has already called her “Apostola Apostolorum” (the Apostle of the Apostles). Her name Magdalene comes from Magdala, her home town. However, contrary to popular belief, which is based on a rather late “tradition” in the West only, Mary Magdalene is not the sinful woman described in Luke 7. We know that she was from Magdala and had been cured by the Lord. She became an eager and loving witness to the Lord’s resurrection. (Read the appendix below for further explanation on this.)
1 Reading: Song of Songs 3:1-4b
The Bride says: On my bed at night I sought him whom my heart loves–I sought him but I did not find him. I will rise then and go about the city; in the streets and crossings I will seek Him whom my heart loves. I sought him but I did not find him. The watchmen came upon me, as they made their rounds of the city: Have you seen him whom my heart loves? I had hardly left them when I found him whom my heart loves.
OR: 2 Corinthians 5:14-17
Brothers and sisters: The love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.
Responsorial Psalm: PS 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
R. (2) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water. R.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you. R.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you. R.
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me. R.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Tell us Mary, what did you see on the way?
I saw the glory of the risen Christ, I saw his empty tomb.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: John 20:1-2, 11-18
On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.” Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her.
Commentary
A woman’s evidence carried no weight in first-century cultures; only men could be proper witnesses. Yet all four gospels testify in different ways that Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Christ. “Go to my brothers,” Jesus told her. She was the first bearer of the distinctive Christian message: that Jesus is risen from the dead. For this reason tradition has called her “the apostle to the apostles.” She was the first Christian preacher!
In John’s gospel, Peter and John (representing “authority” and “love”) work out their protocol about precedence at the mouth of the tomb (love got there first, but stood back for authority). But then they just go home (verse 10). Mary Magdalene stays on the spot, and then she sees Jesus alive.
In the Authorized Version, Jesus says to her, “Touch me not!” This phrase gained currency in English, to express a cold unapproachable manner. It gave the impression that Jesus was recoiling from her touch. But in the original the tense is a continuous one (literally “do not keep on touching me”), translated correctly, as in the present version (the Christian Community Bible) as “Do not cling to me.” She had been searching for him (“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him.”), and now that she found him she wasn’t going to let him go! But he said, “Go to my brothers and tell them.” She learned to move from contemplation to action. From hearing, seeing and touching to announcing!