During Easter week, Fr Vincent Stapleton pens a letter to Mary Magdalene

Fr Vincent Stapleton

MOST ILLUSTRIOUS MARY MAGDALENE

I felt that it was most important to write to you, to call on you by name, Mary, and to let you know that you are in my thoughts, especially in this week of such tender and painful memory for you.

I know that yours was not an easy life. It is said in the gospel of Luke that Jesus freed you from seven demons – which indicates that whatever your affliction was (whether of body or soul), that you were totally bound. Then this man named Jesus came along and opened up once more a wide vista of possibility and hope … a space of freedom for you to thrive.

Isn’t this what can often happen to us all. An increasingly narrow and restricting flow of thoughts can gain a foothold in our minds, stirring up fear and wrapping us in knots. Whatever this spectre may be, it is often difficult to see around it or beyond it. It may seem inconsequential to others.

But for the one who is caught in the shadow, it is in-capacitating. Jesus has this gift of entering into a life and a heart and bringing order – undoing the knots and shining a light on the shadows. And that is what he did for you and for me. And wasn’t he well repaid in you Mary? Without doubt he was! He knew the capacity of your heart – as he knows what is in each of us. The potential for great good and love and of course the possibility that we too will turn in on ourselves and stifle our inner light.

You became the most faithful of his followers. Jesus once paid this compliment to a woman – her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown such great love. He could have been talking about you. Your love was so pure and strong and courageous. When all the brave apostles had fled, you remained.

With Mary, the mother of Jesus and St John, you stood at the foot of the cross. And there you had to endure the helpless agony of watching your loved one die in great suffering. To you I commend all who have known this grief. In you, they see a shining star, in which their own great love and fidelity is reflected.

Dearest Mary, by coming to the tomb on the Easter morning, you gave witness to your enduring love, reaching out to Jesus even though he lay in the sleep of death. And through you, all peoples of all times are given witness … that love endures even beyond the grave. You heard the voice that was so familiar to you calling again – Mary! And in the agony of grief, a shard of hope once again pierced your heart.

You turned to find Jesus approaching you as he longs to draw near to us all. The grief could not be forgotten or washed away in an instant. It never can. But this week, the hope of resurrection and reunion is born again for all of us.

Fittingly, you are called the Apostle to the Apostles. Just as Mary, the mother of Jesus was so special that she received the amazing title, the Immaculate Conception; and just as Simon in his role as leader of the Apostles was called Cephas or Peter (which means the Rock); so too you receive a special title – the Apostle to the Apostles. A singular grace. You were the first human being to proclaim the good news. You were the first to receive the mission. Go and tell the others that he is risen from the dead.

Pope Francis calls us all, laity, consecrated and clergy, to come together and rediscover this mission again – to shine with the light of the Risen Lord and to let his beloved people know that hope is always born anew.

Happy Easter to you, beloved Mary, and thanks for your message.