Monday April 17
In a culture that did not accept as valid the testimony of women, it is remarkable that the four gospels did not hesitate to make Mary Magdalene’s the first testimony of the resurrection of Jesus. It has much to say about the role of women as preachers today. The chief priests and the Jewish authorities also had a “first”: they were the first to give an explanation of the empty tomb. They would be followed by a cloud of theologians throughout the centuries who have tried to explain everything in the Faith. To explain is to explain away, because our explanations never do justice to reality. To “explain” means “to flatten out”, and a mystery flattened out is only a theory at best. Perhaps it will be especially through the preaching of women that the mysteries will become mysteries again.