560. July 22, St Mary Magdalene

Meditations no. 491 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

In the face of our wretchedness, we have to approach our Lord with contrition and without human respects, like Mary Magdalene.

Today is the feast day of St Mary Magdalene. Tradition identifies her with the woman in the Pharisee’s house who threw herself at Jesus’ feet, weeping over her sins. In a meditation, our founder told us that certainly there had been many indiscretions in her life. But when she meets the Master, she repents deeply and reveals a marvellous capacity to love in a clean way. Therefore I’ve often considered that perhaps many have gone too far in exaggerating Mary Magdalene’s bad conduct.

At any rate, it is very consoling to see that our Lord doesn’t separate himself from us when we don’t separate ourselves from him, even though our life may not have been very exemplary, and may even include serious offences. God pardons and lovingly embraces his repentant children who want to begin again. It is very consoling, I was saying, to see how our Lord brings to life the figure of the Good Shepherd about whom he has so lovingly preached. All of his sheep are very important to him, and he never shuts the doors on those who are wounded and diseased, when they return with the desire to be cured.

I want to remind you once again of another statement by Jesus in the Gospels: it is the sick who need a doctor (cf Mt 9: 12). Don’t feel humiliated when you discover your wretchedness-all of us are in the same boat! Our Lord doesn’t cease to love us on that account. But we have to be sincere. Be very sincere; lose your fear, your shame of showing yourselves as you are. Only thus will they be able to apply the opportune remedy to cure us and help us work more effectively. And only thus will we truly realize how much our Lord loves us, since he’s capable of pardoning our greatest weaknesses.

But let us return to the Gospel scene we are contemplating today. That Pharisee, who understands little or nothing about true love, thinks badly of our Lord because of the previous behaviour of that woman, who approaches the Master and bathes his feet with a precious ointment The Pharisee, in his pride, thinks badly of Him and of Mary Magdalene: hic si esset propheta, sciret utique quae et qualis est mulier quae tangit eum, quia peccatrix est (Luke 7: 39); if he were a prophet, he would certainly know who and what kind of a woman is touching him, for she is a sinner. Thus do those who have their hearts stained by pride act; and usually behind their pride lies hidden a host of sins. They judge others badly, they criticize, they’re incapable of speaking plainly. They don’t understand that if they open their heart, they can be helped to amend their lives. Perhaps they will realize that they were entirely mistaken, and that what they viewed as a defect in another, is in reality a generous or even heroic effort to behave well.

My children, when you think that something important, or something that seems important, is not going well, say so clearly and with respect. Reject the comfort of remaining silent, because by your silence you can become accomplices of evil, or you can lack charity by making an erroneous judgment. Go to the director and tell him what’s worrying you; ‘I have something to tell you…’ And speak very clearly, without beating around the bush, always telling the truth, come what may. If you are right, he will thank you; and if you’re mistaken, he will explain the matter to you.

Reading this Gospel passage once again, I was moved by this woman’s decisiveness, her rejection of human respects. My children, it is very common for people to worry about ‘what will others say?’ And perhaps more so among those who should live with their sights set on God, overcoming human respects. What a sad thing it would be to prefer to ‘look good’ in men’s eyes, and less good or even bad in God’s! In his infinite mercy, and his infinite justice as well, our Lord lets himself be won over by sincere love, by Mary’s love filled with sorrow, and he doesn’t deny her his forgiveness.

Today is a good occasion to convert anew.

Let us return to Mary Magdalene, who teaches us to love our Lord ardently. Christ is the Good Shepherd who goes out in search of the lost sheep, and doesn’t return until he finds it. But at the same time he shows by his conduct that he admits of no half-measures. His purity, his clean life is so resplendent that that when the disciples see him speaking with a Samaritan woman they are surprised. Do you recall the scene? Mirabantur quia cum muliere loquebatur! (Jn 4: 27). Our Lord also speaks with the adulterous woman, but he admonishes her, with charity and clarity, to amend her life and to sin no more.

My children, learn from the Master’s example. We aren’t silly creatures who do strange things. We act with naturalness, but also with supernatural sense. We flee from the occasions of sin, which requires courage. We avoid unsuitable dealings that lead us to waste our time or can even separate us from God. Don’t be foolhardy: we should never be in a place where it would be impossible for us to see Jesus Christ.

Today is a very good occasion for a deeper, more sincere conversion, a conversion that leads us to decisively detach ourselves from all that can still bind us here below, in order to belong more to God. In a word, we need the clear determination to be more fully souls of prayer. For to be a soul of prayer, my children, means to be very close to our Lord; it means love, dedication, a clean life, purity.

Mary Magdalene’s love was so great, her conversion so deep and generous, that she deserved to be at Christ’s side and form part of that group of holy women who followed him and provided for him out of their means. We, by recognizing that we are poor sinners, come to understand her tears of contrition, and our soul too is filled with a sincere sorrow for the suffering we have caused our Lord. We have only to glance quickly at our life, at the occasions when we voluntarily turned our back on God’s will, for our hearts to be filled with a deep sorrow of love. But Christ has forgiven us and always forgive us when we approach him contritely in the sacrament of Penance. Today we want to kneel at his feet and tell him with heartfelt sorrow that we never want to offend him again.

Loving our Lord madly like Mary Magdalene.

Time has passed. Christ has died on the Cross and been placed in the tomb. Mary Magdalene is among the small group of faithful souls who don’t leave him. She and the other holy women go to the tomb early in the morning, after the Sabbath rest, to embalm him. But they fail to find him.

The tomb is empty! Mary Magdalene cries, her face bathed in tears. She needs the Master. She has gone there to be consoled a little by being near Him, to keep Him company, because without our Lord nothing is worthwhile. She perseveres in prayer; she looks for him everywhere; she has no other thought but of Him. My children, God lets himself be overcome by such fidelity, so that you and I draw the consequences; so that we learn to truly hope and love. The Evangelist gives a lengthy account, with a marvellous wealth of details.

Mary continues sobbing inconsolably. Nothing in this world can relieve her sadness. Therefore she continues to seek out the Master, with holy stubbornness, even after the others return to the city. When her crying threatens to overwhelm her, two angels dressed in white draw near and ask: Woman, why are you weeping? (Jn 20: 13) Mary had never seen such creatures, but she answers them with naturalness: they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him (Jn 20: 13). She opens her heart and tells them her great concern, convinced that, since they are people of the world, they will understand her perfectly.

The same should be true of us, who are ‘of the world’ but without being worldly. And if we see that the world is straying from God, that it is unaware of God’s love, we will tell others our experience clearly and forcefully, like this woman, in order to lead them once again to the Creator.

And right away our Lord goes out to meet Mary Magdalene, who sees him but still doesn’t recognize Jesus, so great is her sorrow. She thinks he is the gardener, and confides her concern to him too. And she asks him forthrightly: tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away (Jn 20: 15). These few words show the measure of her love. She well knew that the Pharisees, the Jews and the Roman soldiers had organized a careful search for the Body of Jesus, and were determined to punish those who had taken it, even when it was clear that Jesus had risen. Well, despite the dangers and threats of that intimidating campaign, she doesn’t renounce our Lord.

My daughters, my sons, I repeat that God is expecting a lot from our love, from our fidelity. He expects us to have the determination to fulfil our task with great care, to overcome all obstacles. He expects us not to shrink from difficulties, which will not be lacking. He expects us to always choose his Love, with all its blessed risks, over comfort, over the cowardice of doing nothing or of remaining anonymous. Finally, he expects us to seek him out stubbornly, come what may.

Mary!, Jesus exclaims. And her inconsolable grief suddenly vanishes. Rabboni! Teacher! Nothing else matters now. She has found him and doesn’t want to leave him. She knows, even before the disciples do, that He lives for his own. And she shares in his unbounded joy. Once again our Lord shows us that he relies on those who follow him faithfully. He tells her to inform all of his disciples that she has seen him, that he has risen, that he will be with them and will never abandon them.

We ask our Lord, our God, that we may all persevere faithfully; that we never stray from the path; that, moved by contrition for our sins and mistakes, we increase our love and our desire to make reparation, since he has forgiven us, and has entrusted us with the task of communicating to those around us that He lives for us, that He is our true peace and happiness.

We finish by invoking our Mother, so that she show us the path and keep us very united to her Son. Holy Mary will teach us that there is only one answer to the continuous requests that God makes of each one of us: that we say to him, with humility, a sincere fiat!