This blog follows the daily bible readings of the Catholic Church

Reading 1,  Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13

1 The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2 ‘Go and shout this in Jerusalem’s ears: ‘The Lord says this: “I remember your faithful love, the affection of your bridal days, when you followed me through the desert, through a land unsown.

3 Israel was sacred to the Lord; the first-fruits of his harvest; all who ate this incurred guilt, disaster befell them, the Lord declares.”

7 I brought you to a country of plenty, to enjoy its produce and good things; but when you entered you defiled my country and made my heritage loathsome.

8 The priests never asked, “Where is the Lord?” Those skilled in the Law did not know me, the shepherds too rebelled against me and the prophets prophesied by Baal and followed the Useless Ones.

12 You heavens, stand aghast at this, horrified, utterly appalled, the Lord declares.

13 For my people have committed two crimes: they have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug water-tanks for themselves, cracked water-tanks that hold no water.

cracked water-tanks that hold no water

The feminine imagery of Israel’s love for God is what links this passage in the Lectionary to the second reading and the Feast day of St. Mary Magdalene. It is of great value to emphasise this imagery of Israel as the bride of God, which allows scope for feminine affection in the worshipping community. The prophetic picture of the Lord as rejected lover or husband is a poignant instance of what Paul calls the “foolishness of God.” God hurts when human beings reject him, but, as Jeremiah reminds us, human beings hurt more, because they have turned away from the wellsprings of life in favour of reservoirs that easily run dry.

Gospel, John 20:1-2, 11-18

1 It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb2 and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,’ she said, ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’

11 But Mary was standing outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, as she wept, she stooped to look inside, 12 and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet.

13 They said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she replied, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’

14 As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not realise that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.’

16 Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She turned round then and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’ — which means Master. 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’

18 So Mary of Magdala told the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ and that he had said these things to her.

Titian's tempting image of Magdalene

The history of Mary Magdalene in Catholic hagiography is unbiblical, as she becomes the icon of female sensuality saved by Jesus and now lavishing itself, spiritually upon him. She is identified with the sister of Lazarus and the woman who wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair. She becomes the ideal (albeit page 3-style) penitent.

All this is miles away from the resolute woman from whom seven devils have been cast, who follows Jesus to the cross and tomb and is rewarded by being sent by Jesus as the first apostle of the resurrection. It seems quite clear to me that the dialogue between Jesus and Mary is intended by John as a solemn call, modelled on that of the prophets. She is called by name; she responds with devotion; she is sent with good news. She is the messenger of a new world. The lectionary includes a passage from Paul:

“From now on we judge no one by the standards of the flesh. Even if we did once know Christ in the flesh, we do so no longer. For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old has gone, the new one is here now.”

Mary stands on the thershold of a new earth

Mary stands on the threshold of a new earth; that’s her significance, which the male prejudice of the church has diminished. She is there still, demanding that the church which sanctified her, repents of its sinful denial of women’s ministry, and recognises the primacy of the first apostle.