Mary Magdalene has been a complex character in Christian thought throughout Church history. She has been variously identified as Mary of Magdala; the “sinful woman” of Luke 7:36-50 who anoints Christ’s feet and dries them with her hair; and Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. What we know from Scripture is that Mary of Magdala was one of the women who followed Jesus during His ministry in Galilee, that He exorcised seven demons from her, that she was present at the foot of the cross, and that she was the first to discover the empty tomb and witness the Risen Christ.
On a recent Sunday, we prayed with this opening prayer. “O God, strength of those who hope in you, graciously hear our pleas, and, since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace.” We are mortal beings. We will die. The great works that we think are so lasting will crumble into dust. This reality helps us to understand the prophet Ezekiel, who speaks of tears off a tender shoot from a lofty cedar and planting it in Israel. (Ez 17:22-24). The Babylonian Empire destroyed what seemed to be a lofty cedar, the nation of the Israelites. Yet God would take a tender shoot from the House of David, and long after the high tree of the Babylonian Empire was itself past history, that shoot will be Jesus and He will bear fruit that will span the ages.