Hôm nay chúng ta mừng lễ Thánh nữ Maria Mađalêna, một người phụ nữ không những chỉ là một đệ tử trung thành và thân tín Chúa Kitô mà còn là một người thật sự yêu kính Chúa Giêsu. Đáng tiếc thay là trong thời chúng ta đang sống hôm nay, nhiều người trong chúng ta có lẽ lo ngại hay có sự nghi ngờ về ba Maria Mađalêna. Nhiều người trong chúng ta cảm thấy khó chịu trong sự thân mật mà cô đã dành cho Chúa Giêsu.
Trong bài đọc Tin Mừng hôm nay, Thánh Gioan mô tả những cuộc gặp gỡ của bà với Chúa Giêsu có vẻ như thân thiện hơn nhiều so với sự thân mật bình thường. Vì thế nó không giúp ích cho Maria Mađalên khi bà đã bị người khác nhầm lẫn và miêu tả bà ở trong phim trường Hollywood như là một người tình bất hợp pháp của Chúa Giêsu hay là một cô gái đã từng làm nghề mại dâm (mà cô thực sự là không phải thế..vì có rất nhiều Maria trong những bài Tin Mừng.)
Trong suốt các bài Tin Mừng, Bà Maria Mađalêna đã phải tranh đấu với những khó khăn và sự sỉ nhục, đau thương. Bà cũng bị quỷ ám và cũng bị mọi người thân cận bỏ rơi trước khi Chúa Giêsu trừ quỷ và chữa khỏi bà. Và bà cũng chính mắt chứng kiến cái cái Chết cực hình của người bạn thân thương nhất của bà là Chúa Giêsu đã chết trên thập tự giá. Tóm lại, trong thời gian của bà và cho đến ngày nay, chúng ta đã không chịu để cho Maria Mađalêna có được nhiều thời gian nghỉ ngơi. Ngoại trừ Đức Giêsu, Đấng đã làm.
Chúa Giêsu là người bạn thật chân tình của bà trong tất cả các bạn. Ngài không những chỉ chữa cho bà được khỏi bệnh, nhưng cũng giảng dạy riêng cho bà về Nước Trời nữa mặc dù những người khác phàn nàn và khiếu nại, Để đáp lại, bà Maria Mađalên đã hiến dâng cho Chúa tất cả, Bà đã đầu hàng tầt cả những gì mà bà có và hàng ao ước để lắng nghe và sống trưởng thành với đức tin của mình trong Chúa Giê-su. Vì thế tứ đó đến nay, không ai có thể ngạc nhiên là bà đã trở thành một trong những môn đệ trung thành nhất c, tốt nhất của Chúa.
Bà Maria Mađalên là một mô hình của đức tin và tình bạn hữu của Chúa cho chúng ta. Đối mặt với những sự phản kháng và tâm lý tiêu cực mà chúng ta thường gặp mỗi ngày trong cuộc sống hôm nay, chúng ta thực sự có thể sử dụng những ví dụ và cuộc sống của bà Maria Mađalêna và áp dụng trong mối quan hệ cá nhân của chúng ta với Chúa.
REFLECTION
Today we remember St. Mary Magdalene, a woman who not only was a loyal and faithful disciple of Christ but also a person who truly loved Jesus.It is unfortunate that in our present day, many of us are apprehensive or suspicious of Mary Magdalene. Many of us find discomfort in the intimacy she had with Jesus. In today's gospel reading, St. John's description of the meeting of Mary and Jesus may seem more than friendly than it is joyful. It doesn't help that Mary Magdalene has been mistakenly portrayed in Hollywood as an illegitimate lover of Jesus or as an ex-prostitute (which she really wasn't).Mary Magdalene throughout the Gospels contended with difficulties and traumas. She was possessed of demons and likely an outcast before Jesus cured her. And she watched her friend Jesus die on the cross. In short, during her time and up to the present, we haven't been giving Mary Magdalene much of a break. Except Jesus who did.Jesus was her one true friend throughout it all. He not only cured her, but also taught to her, and stuck with her despite the complaints of others. In response, Mary gave her all to listen to and grow her faith with Jesus hence it comes as no surprise she became one of His most faithful disciples and best of friend.Mary Magdalene is a model of faith and friendship. In the face of antagonism and negative sentiment, which we often experience today, we could really use her example in our own personal relationship with the Lord "Lord, may I never fail to recognize your voice nor lose sight of your presence in your saving word."
Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. John 20:11–12
Early in His ministry, Jesus cast seven demons out of Mary of Magdala. As a result, she became an exceptionally faithful follower of Jesus. She was most likely one of His followers who provided for Jesus and the disciples out of her own resources as they traveled. She listened to His teachings, witnessed His miracles, was present when He was condemned, stood at the foot of the Cross with Jesus’ mother, helped to prepare His body for burial and was the first person recorded in Scripture to whom Jesus appeared after His Resurrection.
The Gospel for today’s Mass tells the story of Mary going to the tomb early Sunday morning to complete the anointing of Jesus’ dead body as He laid in the tomb. But much to her surprise, the tomb was empty. Therefore, she ran to tell the Apostles, which makes Mary Magdalene the first of His followers to witness to the Resurrection. After telling the Apostles, she returned to the tomb with Peter and John; and, after Peter and John left, she remained outside the tomb weeping, as is mentioned in the Gospel passage quoted above.
Mary’s tears are beautiful. They are an expression of her deep devotion to her Lord. She did not yet understand that He had risen, but her fidelity to Jesus is a testimony to her love. Jesus had restored her dignity. He freed her from the seven demons who tormented her. She most likely had been a sinful woman in the past, but now she was singly devoted to the Savior of the World.
The witness of Mary of Magdala is one that should inspire us all. Though few people are possessed by seven demons, we are all tormented in one way or another. We all sin. We all are weak. We all have a past we regret. And we all are invited to do better. Mary’s “better” was a life that was given to Jesus with the utmost fidelity. She didn’t care if the authorities saw her at the foot of the Cross. If they were to persecute her as a result, it did not matter. She was faithful. She didn’t care if the soldiers would have harassed her when she went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus—she only thought of that last act of love she could offer Him. And when she saw Jesus risen and thought He was the gardener, she didn’t care if He saw her heartbroken and in tears—she only wanted to see the body of her Lord.
As a result of her unwavering fidelity, Jesus gave her a gift beyond imagination. He appeared to her, after being resurrected from the dead, and sent her to be an apostle to the Apostles. He sent her to go to the Apostles to tell them that Jesus had risen and that He was preparing to go to His Father in Heaven.
Reflect, today, upon the holy soul of this woman. She was a repentant sinner who turned her whole life around. She devoted everything to Jesus and, in return, received even more. In Heaven, Mary Magdalene will forever cling to Jesus and adore His Sacred Heart. May we all strive to imitate her by turning from our own life of sin and becoming unwaveringly faithful to our Lord.
My resurrected Lord, You appeared first to Mary of Magdala after Your Resurrection. You now invite her to share in Your glorious life in Heaven. Help me to learn from her by turning away from all sin and becoming deeply devoted to You. May my fidelity to You, dear Lord, be absolute and unwavering, so that I, too, will one day share in the glory of Your Resurrection. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I seek you with all my heart. Cast out from my heart whatever keeps me from you. You are my true beloved. I will listen to your Word and do my best to discern your holy will. Thy will be done in my life!
1. Mary’s First Announcement: When Mary Magdalene first visited the tomb of Jesus, she was disappointed by what she found. When she saw the empty tomb, she thought not that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day as Jesus had predicted, but that someone had stolen the body of Jesus. Mary returned to the place where the apostles were, likely the upper room where the Last Supper happened, and announced to them what she saw and what her hypothesis was: “The first announcement that Mary makes is not one of the Resurrection, but of a theft perpetrated by persons unknown while all Jerusalem slept” (Francis, May 17, 2017). She wanted Peter and John to go and find the stolen body: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” The First Reading, from the Song of Songs, characterizes the longing of Mary to see her beloved Lord: “The Bride says: On my bed at night I sought him whom my heart loves – I sought him but I did not find him. I will rise then and go about the city; in the streets and crossings, I will seek him whom my heart loves. I sought him but did not find him” (Song of Songs 3:1-2)
3. Mary’s Second Announcement: Mary’s personal encounter with the risen Jesus leads to her second announcement to the disciples: “I have seen the Lord!” She now has a mature faith in the risen Jesus. “Mary has progressed from being ‘in the dark,’ fixated on the reality of Jesus’ death, to belief that Jesus has been raised. And the risen Jesus has brought her to a higher level of relationship, for his disciples can relate to him no longer only as a teacher but also as the Lord himself, who is simultaneously their ‘brother’” (Martin and Wright, The Gospel of John, 338). Mary originally sought the dead body of Jesus, but she eventually found his living and glorified body. She could not continue to hold on to her old relationship with Jesus, but had to learn to relate to him in a new way. Jesus would be ascending to the Father, and now he reigns at the Father’s right hand and intercedes for all of us as our high priest.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I seek you with all my heart. Cast out from my heart whatever keeps me from you. You are my true beloved. I will listen to your Word and do my best to discern your holy will. Thy will be done in my life!
1. Mary Accompanied Jesus During His Ministry and Death: When Mary Magdalene encountered Jesus in Galilee, he released her from the bondage of seven demons (Luke 8:2). She was a woman who knew great suffering, but also experienced the healing power of God. In Jesus, she found the one whom she was seeking, the one whom her heart loved (Song of Songs 3:1-4). Freed from bondage, Mary accompanied Jesus and the Twelve along with many other women. She was the leader of the group of women, who provided for Jesus and the apostles out of their means (Luke 8:1-3). Along with many other women, Mary followed Jesus and ministered to him from Galilee all the way to Jerusalem (Matthew 27:55-56). She was there at Jesus’ crucifixion and never thought once to forsake her beloved. On the Cross, Jesus said “I thirst;” today, in the Psalm, we hear Mary pray: “My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.” Mary saw Jesus commit his spirit to his Father and saw the lance pierce Jesus’ side. She saw blood and water flow out from Jesus’ side; she witnessed not only the birth of the Church, but also the two gifts that the Bridegroom gave to his Bride: the Water of Baptism and the Blood of the Eucharist. After they took Jesus’ body down from the Cross, Mary and the other women followed and saw the tomb and how Jesus’ body was laid (Luke 23:55-56). Nicodemus brought myrrh and aloes and they bound Jesus’ body in linen cloths with the spices (John 19:39-40). The women returned home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint Jesus’ body after the Sabbath rest.
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