i am mary magdalene

Once, some few years back, somebody commented that with the way I carry myself, the way I go headlong into what I do and the attention I am getting from people (yes, especially from the opposite sex) - if I were in the Bible I would be Mary Magdalene.

If that comment was warranted, it's not for me to say.  But Mary Magdalene.

That she was a bad woman is the misconception that I grew up with. Maybe because the statues in churches depicting her are garbed with a red long dress adorned with jewels, with long curly red hair and sometimes even wearing a pair of gaudy dangling earrings which must be donated by a well-meaning lady of the parish. This of course is a major contradiction to the gentle blue-and-white gowned statues of Mary, Mother of God.

Well, in an interesting way I like being Mary Magdalene. I think that with the various theories and discussions regarding her so-called secrets and the debates on her character assassination in the holy book, I would like to think that if indeed I were in those times, I would work and study hard as Mary Magdalene did so she will be one of the learned disciples, compared to those who didn't have a whit of what they were actually doing as they follow this man who claimed to save the nations.

Oh yes. The demons and the sin worthy of wearing the scarlet letter. Well she was healed by no less than Christ himself and if ever the reputation was true, she was the most famous of all those who were repentant. Not bad enough.

Now that I am a grown woman, I would want to pay my respects to Mary Magdalene. She anointed Jesus. She was at the foot of the cross as he was dying, which is much to say since the male apostles were nowhere to be seen because of fear. And the best gift of all, which others fail to see as the most important part in the Bible because of blinding prejudice - she was the one who tended Jesus in the tomb and in so doing, was the first person to discover that Jesus has resurrected. He appeared to her first! Top that!

More importantly, to all the women like me who love their careers, Mary Magdalene's major work started where Jesus' had ended. She rounded up the followers during their lowest point and it was her word - and I bet she had the best of public speaking skills and the strongest convincing powers - that made them realize and accept that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead as he has promised and that they need to continue to spread his message.

Yes, the lady has a very colorful curriculum vitae. I don't mind being her at all. A girl like that.

Saint Mary Magdalene, pray for us.
Feast Day: July 22