April 8, 2012
Father Michael McGarry, CSP, President of the Paulist Fathers“To understand Mary Magdalene is to touch the heart of Christianity.”
This sentence (from Liturgical Press’s marvelous prayer-companion Give Us This Day) startled me with its blunt assertion. Author Marianne Race went on to make her case: “While the others were continually looking for Jesus to become their political leader, Mary Magdalene knew all along that the way of life Jesus was teaching was a way of compassion, unity and love.” Indeed, she was the first witness of the resurrection, the first missionary. Mary Magdalene, one of our Paulist patrons, is a “natural” for us Paulists … and for all of us.
Often I meet people who, in their admiration for the Paulists, speak of our work as if it were fundamentally different from theirs. But in reality our Paulist mission is not so much a different mission, but an intensification of the fundamental Christian mission. We Christians are all called to share our faith, reach out in gestures of forgiveness, and work cooperatively with our Christian brothers and sisters to work for God’s kingdom.
Therefore, Mary Magdalene certainly serves as one very effective lens for understanding the heart of our Christian vocation. The time after Easter offers a moment to consolidate our Lenten experience, to filter it through the joyous Easter celebration and to utter words of gratitude for the graces granted to us during this time.
But it is also a time to re-understand our call to discipleship. Our Paulist missionary life is, in a real sense, an intensification of the entire Christian life. Our missionary life is not different from what all Christians are called to – indeed our fundamental missionary sacrament is Baptism, not ordination – and so our experience of Lent, Holy Week and Easter are treasured moments when we refocus, recapture our missionary zeal. Mary Magdalene shines as the model disciple who walks with Jesus, stands vigil with him on Golgotha and spreads the word of his resurrection stands as an epitome of our Christian life.
These snapshots can inflame our religious imagination to imitate her in our post-Easter life. While each of us is a unique Christian, nonetheless Mary Magdalene may elicit a new accent in our Christian life that we have neglected. I think of the following:
Mary, healed by the Lord, accompanied him through his life. Perhaps the daily Scripture reading, a worthy Lenten practice, may continue through our year as a practical way of “walking with Jesus” on a daily basis.
Mary stood at the cross on Golgotha may well be the moment we sit by the hospital bedside of an ailing or infirm family member. Or listening, with reverence and close attention, to the tales of pain and struggle of a colleague. Or the resurrection exuberance which Mary Magdalene felt, after her initial fear and amazement, may well spark imaginative ways of sharing our faith that doesn’t so much knock someone else over, but subtly and warmly invites another into God’s grace.
Yes, indeed, to understand Mary Magdalene is to touch the heart of Christianity. And may the abundant graces of this Easter be both yours and those you love.
Father Michael B. McGarry is president of the Paulist Fathers.