To really explore her relationship with Jesus, I wanted to see what the Bible says, specifically, about Mary Magdalene. When I started to explore Mary Magdalene in more detail, I found a list of every verse from the Bible where she is mentioned by name. So I opened a web-based version of the Bible and copied each of those verses into one document so I could really look at what it says about her.
After reading through all of it, I was a little confused. All I remember being taught about her is that she was a reformed prostitute who followed Jesus and was a witness to his crucifixion. First of all, I didn’t find anything in the Gospels that confirms she was ever a prostitute, and secondly, she was more than just a witness to the crucifixion. As far as I could tell, she was the first person to witness the Risen Christ, meaning he chose Mary Magdalene to be the first person he visited after he rose from the dead.
What? How did I miss that detail for the first 52 years of my life as a practicing Catholic? I am suddenly doubting myself. Did I miss something? So I read through the death and resurrection sections of all four Gospels one more time. It still seems to me that she is the first.
Okay, maybe I missed that day in religion class, and every homily that ever addressed their relationship for all of those years. So I decided to see if there is any evidence of the Church’s teaching on the matter. I typed “Mary Magdalene and John Paul II” into a Google search and began to read a few articles there. That is when I discovered that St. John Paul confirmed what I am thinking in a homily when he was the Pope. He stated that she was clearly the first witness to the Risen Christ.
It seems to me that he wouldn’t have felt the need to make such a declaration if that was already the regular Church teaching. So why did it take almost 2,000 years to acknowledge it? We might never know the answer to that question, and that’s okay. I’m not really worried about the past. I want to think about what this means for us going forward.
First of all, in my mind this reveals Mary Magdalene as someone who if very important to Jesus. We know that His love is infinite and that He loves us all, but He went to see her FIRST. She was the first person He wanted to see when He had risen from the dead.
Now let’s not take this too far. I do not think there is any evidence that she was married to Jesus. Maybe she was. I don’t know. I don’t think we’ll ever know, at least not in this life. And to be honest, I don’t think it really changes anything about our faith if she was. As Catholics, we honor the sanctity of marriage, so there is nothing inherently scandalous if Jesus was married.
But that’s not the point here. It’s just to realize that there was an important intimacy in their relationship. What does that mean when we think about our role, as women, in the Catholic Church? Really, I’m wondering what you think! [Please scroll to the bottom of the page and share your thoughts.]
Lord, please help us to feel your infinite love for us, and guide us to do your will in service to the Church.