Wednesday, July 22, 2020 (today’s lectionary)
Day by day
My hippie wannabe self yearns to live in the world of Godspell, painting walls with bright colors and faces with pastels, skipping and leaping and praising God, following Jesus in his Patch Adams sunshine pants, singing and singing and singing.
I will rise then and go about the city
In the streets and alleys I will seek
Him whom my heart loves.
The story of Jesus doesn’t seem to end well. He is crucified and his friends and family are scattered.
I sought him but could not find him.
I asked the watchmen waiting for dawn
Have you seen him?
Have you seen him!
Well, no. They have not seen him. But as we all know, believe it or not, that’s barely the beginning of the story. This story has not yet reached its end.
So now today, on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene rises magnificently from the calendar of the Church. It is a good thing to paint walls bright yellow and green and skip the light fantastic through Central Park. And it’s better yet to sit quietly beside the tomb, watching with Mary, hearing her words and reassurance about the presence of our Savior.
Mary Magdalene was the woman who was closest to Jesus. Cynthia Bourgeault has written wonderful things about her. “Mary is the person in the Gospel who most needs love to be stronger than death, so she is the first to know it – and perhaps at the deepest level.”
Jesus inspired great love from everyone who followed him.
O God you are my God whom I seek
My flesh pines for you, my soul thirsts
Your kindness is greater than life
Of course the Song of Solomon could be a spiritual metaphor, but it reads far more easily as an erotic masterpiece.
On my bed at night I sought him
Whom my heart loves
Remember that verse from Matthew 27, as Jesus was buried and his tomb was sealed by the stone?
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained, sitting there watching the tomb.
All four gospels describe this moment. “When all the other disciples are fleeing Mary Magdalene stands firm. She does not run.”
Holy Week liturgies focus on the cowardly denials of Peter but barely notice the faithfulness of Mary Magdalene. When Cynthia, an Episcopal priest, realized this, her whole experience of the Paschal season changed.
“What if, instead of emphasizing that Jesus died alone and rejected, we reinforced the fact that one stood by him and did not leave? How would this change the emotional timbre of the day? How would it affect our feelings about ourselves?
Eventually Mary must have left the tomb, because she returned on Sunday, as early as she could.
Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark.
Peter and John came and left again. Mary waited and wept. Even the body of Jesus was gone.
But then Jesus spoke to her and she recognized him.
Mary!
Rabbi!
Mary fell and wrapped her arms around his legs. But for her, and for us too, the times of physical embrace must become eternal and infinite. Jesus was gentle but firm.
Now you must stop holding onto me.
I am ascending to the Father
To my God and your God.
The love affair, however Platonic, between Jesus and the most important woman in his life would move to a new height. All good gifts become better gifts and then best gifts, as body and spirit flow together. God’s Spell over us is not magic, it is the gentle blessing of the Creator on the created. God the Father, God the Mother, God the Holy makes us holy too.
(Song of Solomon 3, 2 Corinthians 5, Psalm 63, John 20)
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