He is risen!
Mary Magdalene – the journey from disciple to apostle
In addition to attending the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil), one thing I do every year during Holy Week is to watch the movie “Mary Magdalene” (2018).
I love it because it portrays Mary Magdalene as a full disciple of Jesus. Something that we don’t see in other places.
Sometimes, I think we misunderstand what the word “disciple” means, thinking that it means “advocate” or “proponent.” But it’s original and most basic meaning is that of a student, one who is learning from a master, in this case, Jesus.
In the film, Mary is called (released, really) from the bonds of her family’s and her culture’s expectations and accepted by Jesus as one of his disciples. Just like Peter, James, and John, and the others.
Like any good disciple, or student, Mary seeks to learn. She listens to Jesus and asks him questions. She watches what he does and how he interacts with people. She debates with the other disciples about the meaning of something Jesus has said, and wonders as they do, when something is beyond her. And like them she tries to imitate him, in what he says, and does.
She is unique among Jesus’s disciples not only because of her sex, but because of her perspective.
As a woman of her times, she doesn’t have to worry about where she stands in the pecking order of Jesus’s disciples. Something that the male followers seem to be preoccupied with from time to time.
Remember when James and John were rebuked by Jesus for wanting to sit on his left and right hand? (Mark 10:35-45)
She has been brought up to be deferential to men. That is accepted by everyone around her – both men and women. Everyone around her, that is, except for Jesus.
By virtue of her sex, she also has been brought up to serve. Not only the men in her family, but other women in her community.
In the opening scene of the movie, we see the other women in her village turning to her for help with a difficult birth. She is not only a servant of her community, but a natural leader.
The women have no trouble with this, but the men do. She is considered a “troublesome” woman, i.e., one who longs for more than her established roles as daughter, sister, wife. The men in her family love her, in their own way, but they don’t understand her.
She meets Jesus for the first time when one of her male relatives brings Jesus to “heal” her of possession by a demon. Jesus, after examining her, says she is not possessed.
He asks her what she wants. In one of the most poignant moments in the film, after much hesitation, she says, “To know God.” That moment went straight to my heart. What courage! Would that all of us could say the same.
In the subtitle of this post, I note that Mary Magdalene moves beyond being a disciple to an apostle, someone who is no longer a student, but an “authoritative advocate” who is sent out to deliver the Good News.
In fact, the Catholic Church recognizes this in her, for she is known in Church teaching as “the apostle to the apostle.” The one who delivers the good news to the other apostles that Jesus has been raised from the dead.
Here is how that scene plays out in the film:
After seeing the risen Jesus, Mary hurries to where the disciples were staying.
Peter: Mary, . . . you were with him?
Mary: To the end. Peter, as the sun rose, I saw him. He was there, and all his pain was gone from him. He was there. He is not gone. Even death cannot hold him.
Peter: A dream?
Mary: Not a dream. This whole time we have been looking for a change in the world, but it’s not what we thought. The kingdom is here, now!
The Apostles: . . . but how can this be?
Mary: Because The Kingdom is not something we can see with our eyes. It’s here within us. All we have to do is let go of our anguish and our resentment, and become like children, just as he said. The kingdom cannot be built through conflict. Not by opposition, not by destruction. It grows with us. With every act of love and care. With our forgiveness. We have the power to lift the people just as he did. And then we will be free, just as he is. We have the power to relieve their suffering. It is up to us. The world will only change as we change.
Would that we could all hear and take this good news to heart!
Peter and some of the other disciples seem to question this, but Mary refuses to back down. Then she leaves the disciples and returns to Jesus, to be with him one last time.
In the final scene of the movie, Mary Magdalene recalls a conversation she and Jesus had had when she first joined his ministry. She asked, “What is it like to be one with God?”
At the time he only responded with, “No one has ever asked me that.”
She asks him again, “So, what is it like?” He looks at her and gives her a beautiful, joyful smile, and laughs. Mary returns his smile with delight.
Lord Jesus, our memoriam of your Passion and death are complete. Your suffering and struggle are over. Joy emerges with your resurrection!
He is risen! He is truly risen! I wish you Easter Joy. ++Paula++