MARY MAGDALENE, APOSTLE TO THE APOSTLES
Introduction
Contrary to popular belief, which is based on a rather late “tradition” in the West only, Mary Magdalene is not the sinful woman described in Luke 7. We know that she was from Magdala and had been cured by the Lord. She became an eager and loving witness to the Lord’s resurrection.
The first witness to the Risen Lord – She is the only woman disciple of Jesus, named by all four evangelists. A witness to Jesus' crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection, she was also the first person to see the open tomb. The Lord chose her to be the first messenger of the resurrection to the other apostles, earning her the title "Apostle of the Apostles."
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
Mary Magdalene sought your Son
with the impetuosity of a person
who loved him deeply
and who was afraid to have lost him.
When she had recognized him,
he made her a witness to his resurrection.
Lord God, help us discover
the presence of your Son
in the people around us
and may they recognize
that Jesus Christ lives in us
now and for ever.
Alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia.
Tell us, Mary, what did you see on the way?
I saw the glory of the risen Christ, I saw his empty tomb.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: John 20:1-2,11-18
On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
"They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don't know where they put him."
Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
She said to them, "They have taken my Lord,
and I don't know where they laid him."
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?"
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
"Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
"Rabbouni," which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her,
"Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
'I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.'"
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
"I have seen the Lord,"
and then reported what he told her.
Intercessions
– That we may learn from Jesus to be discreet in our love and service to the poor, we pray:
– That we may learn from Jesus to be very respectful of people and care especially for those wounded in life, we pray:
– That Jesus may give us his Holy Spirit to work for justice and righteousness in our world, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
in these signs of bread and wine
your Son becomes present among us.
Give us the firm conviction
that he is alive among us and in us,
that people may recognize
that it is he who makes our lives meaningful
and worth living.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Our God and Father,
we thank you for this eucharistic celebration.
We have shared the table of your Son;
we share his life and love.
God, may we also bear witness
that your Son is risen and alive today.
May our lives reflect the love and joy
that he brought us,
until we enter the joy of your kingdom.
This is what we ask of you today
through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Blessing
We have heard God say about Jesus that he is the servant he likes. Jesus makes us servants with him. May we too, be pleasing to God, and may Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
St Mary Magdalene: Apostle of the Apostles
The first words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John are a question that Jesus asked the two disciples of John the Baptist: “What are you looking for?” Everything Jesus teaches and does later in John's gospel answer that question: We are looking for the way, the truth, the life, and the bread from heaven that satisfies our hunger.
At the end of the gospel, as we read in today’s passage, this question is repeated: In accordance with Jewish custom, Mary Magdalene goes to anoint Jesus' body on Easter Sunday morning. However, she discovers him walking in the garden, although she doesn’t recognize him. Jesus turns to her and repeating the question with which he began his ministry, asks her: “What are you looking for? ”
Mary’s reply expresses her anguish for her beloved. It is usually in the garden where lovers meet. Jesus responds with love, calling her by name: “Mary”, and she falls at his feet.
That is the essence of the whole gospel: What are we ultimately looking for? The desire and love that drives us into the garden is to hear God pronounce our names in love. To hear God lovingly calling us by our name: ...
The following is a poem by renowned theologian Fr. Ron Rolheiser about the encounter of Mary Magdalene and Jesus in the garden.
I never suspected
Resurrection to be so painful... to leave me weeping
With joy to have met you, alive and smiling, outside an empty tomb
With regret, not because I've lost you but because I've lost you in how I had you -- in understandable, touchable, kissable, ‘clingable’ flesh not as fully Lord, but as ‘graspably’ human. I want to cling, despite your protest cling to your body cling to your, and my, clingable humanity cling to what we had, our past.
But I know that...if I cling, you cannot ascend and I will be left clinging to your former self ...unable to receive your present spirit.
[Fr Ronald Rolheiser, Mary Magdala's Easter Prayer in Forgotten Among the Lillies, p. 176.]
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22 July 2024
John 20:1-2, 11-18
St Mary Magdalene: Apostle of the Apostles
Today, the Church celebrates the feast of the first witness to the Risen Lord – St. Mary Magdalene. She witnessed Jesus' crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection and was also the first person to witness the empty tomb. She was chosen by the Lord to announce the news of the resurrection to the other apostles, earning her the title "Apostle of the Apostles."
The first words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John are a question that Jesus asked the two disciples of John the Baptist: “What are you looking for?” At the end of the gospel, as we read in today’s passage, this question is repeated: Jesus turns to Mary Magdalene standing before the empty tomb and repeats the question with which he began his ministry, asking her: “What are you looking for? ”
The Gospel says that Mary mistook him to be the gardener, suggesting that their encounter took place in a garden. It is usually in the garden where lovers meet. Mary's response reflects her distress for her beloved, and Jesus reacts with affection, addressing her by name – "Mary," causing her to fall at his feet.
That is the essence of the whole gospel: What are we ultimately looking for? The desire and love that drives us into the garden is to hear God pronounce our names in love. To hear God lovingly calling us by our name: ...
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22 July 2025
Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles
John 20:1-2; 11-18
From darkness to mission
“It was still dark.” That is how the Gospel begins when Mary Magdalene walks to the tomb. How often this is true in our lives—when the heart is broken, the road unclear, and hope seems lost. But like Mary, we are called to walk even in the dark. To keep seeking Jesus, even when everything seems hidden or shattered.
Mary’s journey does not end in darkness. She runs back, filled with a new fire. Her sorrow turns into mission. Her tears become testimony. She becomes the first to proclaim: “I have seen the Lord!” This is what love does—it runs, it announces, it cannot be kept silent.
She recognizes the risen Jesus when He calls her by name: “Mary.” It is in this personal encounter that the darkness lifts. The Risen Lord does not appear with spectacle, but in tenderness, with a voice that calls gently to the heart. And she answers, “Rabbouni”—Master. From sinner to witness, from weeping to proclaiming, Mary becomes the first herald of the Resurrection, the one whom the Church rightly calls Apostle of the Apostles.
This is a powerful reminder for us: no wound is too deep, no past too broken, for Jesus not to transform. Let us not cling to what was, but open ourselves to what is now—to the Spirit, to mission, to joy. Like Mary, let us go forth and tell the world: Christ is alive! He calls us by name!
And in the garden of our own hearts, may we hear that same question: “What are you looking for?” May our answer be this: “I am looking for You, Lord.”
Hong Kong
