Mary, an unimportant daughter of Joachim and Anne, had an Angel come down to her in the middle of the night from heaven to tell her that as a virgin she would conceive and give birth to a son and she should name him Jesus, and instead of spazzing out or being grumpy like any normal person, she just sorta shrugged her shoulders and said, "Okay. Thy will be done."Pay no mind to the fact that she could have been publicly stoned for becoming pregnant outside of marriage.
Saint Joan of Arc heard voices of Angels and Saints and instead of thinking she was going absolutely, stark raving mad, decided to do what they told her, go to the Dauphin, got him off his royal posterior, and then she went on to LEAD HER FREAKING COUNTRY into battle against the British. And then she was martyred at stake.
Saint Therese of Lisieux (or the Little Flower), wanted nothing more out of life than to become a nun. She wanted to this so much that she went to the Pope who told her to wait until she was sixteen. Then she became a nun. And she didn't do anything but pray for the missions. And she didn't go anywhere except to heaven.
All of these saintly women heard ethereal voices and did great things. The only road before them was clearly marked event though it would be hard to follow. I say it was easy because they had spent their lives already doing the RIGHT thing. I find it hard to compare my life to theirs.
I make a lot of mistakes... some public, like tripping in the parking
lot this afternoon during rush hour at the grocery store, dropping my
groceries, my purse, my keys, and running into my parked car. Some of my
mistakes are private, such as having keys made for one of the rental
houses only to discover that I had three keys made of the OLD key.
Equally embarrassing .. particularly since I had to go back to Lowe's
to have new keys made. Some are public like when I misspell someone's
name in the bulletin that I now write. That's why I find the life of
saintly women so very... annoying. And then I look at Mary Magdalene and for some strange reason I feel like I can face the world again.
Every time that I have a bad day, I don't want to try again, or things don't go my way- I think of her. She was the literal black sheep of an ultra conservative community. Meek was chic and she was bold. Cleanliness was like Godliness and she was unclean. Women were stoned to death for impropriety and she was as unproper as they came. People would cross the road to get away from her... unless they were trading in her wares. For the record, this is not why she makes me feel better.
When she heard of Christ's saving love she burst into the room he was staying at, broke a very expensive bottle of perfumed oil over his head, and washed his feet with her tears and her lovely hair. And she did it out of love.
And when He looked at her with love. And He looked in her with true love. And He loved her as she was, for everything she was, and everything she would never- could be. And He loved her. She had just as many scars within her as He did when He was crucified. And He still loved her. In spite of her scars. Perhaps because of her scars.
And she was saved.
The Bible does not tell us much about her life after her conversion. In fact the Bible never actually says her name in connection with the whore who fell at Christ's feet. Some sources suggest that she was actually a wealthy patroness of Christ. In reality we go on tradition in assuming that the two women were one in the same.
Some days I try to imagine what that might have been like- to go from being in the market of loving men to loving one man, in celibacy. Most likely people did not see her differently at all. In fact they probably saw her exactly the same and never let her forget it. Can you imagine being a repentant sinner and trying to turn your life around but being dragged back by temptation- by surroundings- by necessity- and by society- and overcoming that?
We know that Mary Magdalene is a Saint which means that she made it to heaven. I believe that she was saved the day that she fell at Christ's feet. She had to go on living without Him and trust and have faith amidst the pain of loss. Probably amidst the pain of hunger and loneliness. And we know that she prevailed.
That is why, when I have a bad day, when things don't go my way and I want to give up, I think of her. And I feel better. She made mistakes and God loved her anyway. And she prevailed.
And when He looked at her with love. And He looked in her with true love. And He loved her as she was, for everything she was, and everything she would never- could be. And He loved her. She had just as many scars within her as He did when He was crucified. And He still loved her. In spite of her scars. Perhaps because of her scars.
And she was saved.
The Bible does not tell us much about her life after her conversion. In fact the Bible never actually says her name in connection with the whore who fell at Christ's feet. Some sources suggest that she was actually a wealthy patroness of Christ. In reality we go on tradition in assuming that the two women were one in the same.
Some days I try to imagine what that might have been like- to go from being in the market of loving men to loving one man, in celibacy. Most likely people did not see her differently at all. In fact they probably saw her exactly the same and never let her forget it. Can you imagine being a repentant sinner and trying to turn your life around but being dragged back by temptation- by surroundings- by necessity- and by society- and overcoming that?
That is why, when I have a bad day, when things don't go my way and I want to give up, I think of her. And I feel better. She made mistakes and God loved her anyway. And she prevailed.
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