22 July 2019
Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene
A few years ago, I heard a lecture from a young biblical scholar who stated that Mary Magdalene, the most famous woman in biblical history might not have been a prostitute, but instead she was a rich widow who made a fortune from fishing industries. At that time, I was quite skeptical to hear this information. But recently, I heard new research that was discovered at an archeological site in Magdala in Jerusalem, which suggests that Mary Magdalene was possibly a rich widow, whose money funded a synagogue or house of prayer for believers. Regardless of whether she is a prostitute or a rich widow, I think that the most important fact is that Mary Magdalene is a woman of great faith and is a good companion of Jesus.
There are various women with roles of responsibility who gravitated in their different capacities to Jesus, one of them is Mary Magdelene (Lk 8: 2-3). The Gospel also tells us that the women, unlike the Twelve, stayed with Jesus during his Passion until the end. Mary Magdalene was not only present at the foot of the cross, but she was also the first witness to the resurrection. St. Thomas Aquinas even reserved the special title “Apostle of the Apostles” (apostolorum apostola), dedicating to her this beautiful comment: “Just as a woman had announced the words of death to the first man, so also a woman was the first to announce to the Apostles the words of life.” In 2017, Pope Francis declared Mary Magdalene the “Apostle of the new and greatest hope.” A year before that, the Pope signed a decree that marked Mary Magdalene’s feast day as July 22, alongside the other Apostles.
In your prayer today, ask yourself who is your “Mary Magdelene.” Is there any women in your life who show tremendous loyalty like Mary Magdelene did to Jesus? Is there any women or person in your life who announce the words of life and the good news of resurrection to you? Or, you could also pray about how you can be like Mary Magdalene to others.