Saturday July 22, 2017
No one is more heartbroken at the death of a person than his own mother. At the tragic death of Jesus, Mother Mary was truly heartbroken. “A sword will pierce your heart,” Simeon had prophesied to her long ago. If so, shouldn’t Jesus have chosen his own mother to be the first to receive the good news of his resurrection and see him in person? Why did he then grant this privilege to Mary of Magdala?
It was for the fitness of it that Mary of Nazareth was the one chosen to conceive the divine child, for no one else on earth was a more worthy receptacle than her. However, it is a sinner—one who had plunged deep into the dark abyss of despair and separation from God—who would best appreciate and know in person the promise of the resurrection. By some accounts, Mary of Magdala had been a sinner, and had known the bitter taste of sin. Like the bride in the Song of Songs, she was desperately in need of a groom who would offer her love and new life. Who else other than she would be the worthiest recipient of the good news of the resurrection?
