Sacred Space

Easter Days

Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples 'I have seen the Lord' and what he told her (John 20:18 ).

She stands in courage with the little group at the foot of the cross. She is witness to the resurrection. Most scripture scholars insist she is not the same woman as the woman who anointed Jesus' feet; not Mary of Bethany; not the woman caught in adultery. She is the woman to receive the first resurrection news and mission mandate. Her announcement is believed in that beloved community. She bears witness to what she has seen and heard. As Mary Anne Getty-Sullivan says The community knowledge and belief in the resurrection are based on the witness of this woman who has been rightly called the 'apostle to the apostles' (Women in the New Testament, 2001:191).

In these Easter days of the church's celebration of Jesus resurrection, as we pray together and meet to talk our Mercy story and share our deepest desires for our institute, many of us walk with Mary Magdalene. We look to see what qualities for leadership in ministry her story reveals. Faithful presence. Courage in the dark hours. Searching and questioning in the unknown spaces of the morning. Steadfast freedom and liberation from whatever the difficulties of her past have been. Healed and transformed through her following Jesus call. Ministering to Jesus. A strong leader. A woman of some authority. I have seen the Lord.

Her call to follow Jesus through Galilee , to stand fearlessly with the little group at the foot of the cross, to announce the resurrection, are our evidence of her strong beliefs, her tenacity of purpose, her ability to talk meaningfully with others in the community and bring great news to surprise and gladden. Her openness to the Spirit, her vulnerability and her love seem to guide her. We each know glimpses of such Easter joy. Some days reach out in Easter newness and beckoning. Denise Levertov says of such an experience:

A certain day became a presence to me;
there it was, confronting me – a sky, air, light:
a being. And before it started to descend
from the height of noon, it leaned over
and struck my shoulder as if with
the flat of a sword, granting me
honor and a task. The day's blow
rang out, metallic-or it was I, a bell awakened,
and what I heard was my whole self
saying and singing what it knew: I can.
(Breathing the Water 1987:3)

Mary Magdalene can. I can. We can.

Paula M. Smith rsm
Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia

Return to Sacred Space