My Soul Thirsts For You: Learning From Mary Magdalene

My Soul Thirsts For You: Learning From Mary Magdalene

My soul is thirsting for you O Lord my God.   

This psalm is perfect for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. We have all heard the story in Luke 8:2-3 of how Jesus cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene.  We don’t know much about her background, but it is believed that she was a Jewish woman living among the Gentiles and that she was possibly a prostitute before encountering Jesus, but this is not backed up in scripture.  While scripture doesn’t tell us much about her background, the gospels all agree, however, that she was a great sinner before she met Jesus.  After her encounter with the Lord and him casting out the demons from her, she became one of Jesus’ most devout followers and a great example of God’s mercy and grace.  While we know that her life was not very holy before meeting Jesus, what is more important is how she lived her life after meeting Jesus.  Through Mary Magdalene, Jesus gives us an excellent example of how no one is beyond the saving grace of God.  It is easy to imagine that after experiencing the love, mercy, and forgiveness of God through Jesus, that the psalm My soul is thirsting for you O Lord my God, would have always been on her lips.  

Her faith in Jesus was so strong that it is believed that she witnessed the crucifixion along with the other women who traveled with Jesus and the disciples.  It is also believed that she assisted in the entombment of Jesus, even though most of his disciples had fled in fear.  Most importantly, the gospels tell us that Mary Magdalene was the first person at the tomb on Easter Sunday Morning and when she saw the stone rolled away from the entrance, she ran and told St. Peter and St. John, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb.  Peter and John ran to the tomb and saw the burial cloths and while not included in today’s reading St. John goes on to tell us that he saw and believed but then both Peter and John returned home.  

Mary Magdalene on the other hand stayed outside the tomb weeping and saw two angels who asked her, “Woman why are you weeping?”  She said, “They have taken the Lord.”  Then she turned around and saw Jesus but did not recognize him in his glorified body.  Then Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?  Whom are you looking for?”  But she still didn’t recognize him until he said to her: “Mary!”  Then fully aware that she knew it was him, Jesus told her, “Go to my brothers and tell them,” and she went and told the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.”  On the evening of that first day of the week, while the disciples hid in fear of the Jews, Jesus came to them through locked doors and said to them, “Peace be with You.”


Isn’t it amazing that Jesus chose Mary Magdalene, a terrible sinner earlier in life, to be the first person he appeared to and the first person to whom he gave a mission when Jesus told her, “Go to my brothers and tell them, I have seen the Lord?”  Why didn’t he choose St. Peter for this honor to whom he had already told, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  This great honor the Lord gave to Mary Magdalene should be comforting to sinners like us, because it is a clear message that as Jesus said in Matthew 9:13, “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” and pointed out even more strongly in Luke 15:7 when he said, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents that over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”  Now of course, Jesus is not saying that he wants us to go out and do a bunch of sinning so that we can then repent and that will make him happy.  That would be playing shameful and fruitless games with God.  Jesus is saying that for those who are truly living in sin, caught in the traps and lies of the devil.  When they repent of their sins by returning to him, expressing sorrow for their sins, and a desire to live according to his will there is much joy in heaven because one of God’s lost children has returned, much like the prodigal son.

My soul is thirsting for you O Lord my God.  This should be our desire every day, every hour, every moment of our life.  Recognizing, however, we are weak and prone to sin, but praising God that he has given us the Sacrament of Reconciliation for those times when we fall to temptation and commit serious sin, thus breaking our relationship with him.  Through this wonderful sacrament, Jesus not only forgives our sins but also gives us grace, which changes our hearts and gives us the strength to live out our Act of Contrition, “To sin no more and avoid the near occasion of sin.” 

Brothers and sisters, living a life focused on the Lord is our choice.  Let’s choose to follow God's will every day, thirsting for the love and mercy he so freely offers us.  Let us humble ourselves, come to him in repentance, and with a true change of heart and desire to live according to his will freely choose to make Jesus the most important person in our life.  Amen.