Why Mary Magdalene?

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James248 said:
That tradition is not dogmatic.
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Could be a cousin of Mary or sister of Joseph. Remember Jesus did not literally have brothers by the same mother, although the Bible lists James, Joses, Simon, and Judas as brothers of Jesus.

I have also read that Salome is the other Mary.
 
qui_est_ce said:
Could be a cousin of Mary or sister of Joseph. Remember Jesus did not literally have brothers by the same mother, although the Bible lists James, Joses, Simon, and Judas as brothers of Jesus.

I have also read that Salome is the other Mary.
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My statement still stands.
 
Just for the record, I did read your posts. Nowhere in Scripture does it state that Mary Magdalen was a prostitute or adulterer. Luke 8:2 and Mark 16:9 specifically tell us that she had demons cast out of her. The two Gospel books agree, though either one should suffice.

The fact that Scripture does not tell us that she was not a prostitute does not mean that we should consider that she probably was one. We haven’t been told that the other disciples weren’t prostitutes or adulterers either, so do you suppose that we should assume that they probably all were?
 
sudy said:
Just for the record, I did read your posts. Nowhere in Scripture does it state that Mary Magdalen was a prostitute or adulterer. Luke 8:2 and Mark 16:9 specifically tell us that she had demons cast out of her. The two Gospel books agree, though either one should suffice.

The fact that Scripture does not tell us that she was not a prostitute does not mean that we should consider that she probably was one. We haven’t been told that the other disciples weren’t prostitutes or adulterers either, so do you suppose that we should assume that they probably all were?
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Check this link out.

www.newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2011/07/st-mary-magdalene-and-insanity-of.html
 
My intent is to defend. And one can simply check out my posts and make an argument.
 
I’ve read your article and I’m afraid it doesn’t make sense for her to be the same woman, not to me anyway.

Luke 7:36-50 refers to a woman in the city who was a sinner and who bathed Jesus’ feet with oil and then dried them with her hair. Jesus says, ‘I tell you, her sins which are many, have been forgiven.’

Luke 8:2 states that soon afterwards… Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out…

If this is meant to be the same woman, at which point was she guilty of adultery and at which point was she possessed with seven demons? Do you think a woman possessed of demons would be anointing Jesus’ feet without either Jesus or the demons noticing? Or are you suggesting that she was guilty of adultery and after he forgave her, she became possessed with demons straight away?

I’ve no desire to argue with you about it though, I was simply showing that scripture refers to both women differently and doesn’t specifically say that Mary Magdalen was guilty of prostitution or adultery.
 
sudy said:
I’ve read your article and I’m afraid it doesn’t make sense for her to be the same woman, not to me anyway.

Luke 7:36-50 refers to a woman in the city who was a sinner and who bathed Jesus’ feet with oil and then dried them with her hair. Jesus says, ‘I tell you, her sins which are many, have been forgiven.’

Luke 8:2 states that soon afterwards… Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out…

If this is meant to be the same woman, at which point was she guilty of adultery and at which point was she possessed with seven demons? Do you think a woman possessed of demons would be anointing Jesus’ feet without either Jesus or the demons noticing? Or are you suggesting that she was guilty of adultery and after he forgave her, she became possessed with demons straight away?

I’ve no desire to argue with you about it though, I was simply showing that scripture refers to both women differently and doesn’t specifically say that Mary Magdalen was guilty of prostitution or adultery.
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I’m suggesting the demons made her go into prostitution, then Jesus drove them out, and then she anointed Him.
 
sudy said:
It’s possible… but, besides the Gospel writers making a distinction between them, even the Pope makes a distinction between the adulteress and Magdalene in this prayer m.vatican.va/content/francescomobile/en/prayers/documents/papa-francesco_preghiere_20151208_giubileo-straordinario-misericordia.html
Anyway it’s my bedtime so that’s it from me.
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The adulteress was the person who was almost stoned. Notice how the Pope prayed that the Lord’s gaze freed the Magdalene from searching after created things.
 
James248 said:
The adulteress was the person who was almost stoned
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And I still hope with all of my heart that this story really happened, because I just love it.
A shamed woman, almost condemned, a Man saw her heart with one gaze into her eyes, forgave her, and set her free more than any other ever could.
 
Crown_of_Stars said:
And I still hope with all of my heart that this story really happened, because I just love it.
A shamed woman, almost condemned, a Man saw her heart with one gaze into her eyes, forgave her, and set her free more than any other ever could.
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Jesus forgiving her etc. is ok.My question in the OP was why out of all persons Jesus selected her to see first after his Resurrection which is the foundation of Christianity.
 
joseie said:
Jesus forgiving her etc. is ok.My question in the OP was why out of all persons Jesus selected her to see first after his Resurrection which is the foundation of Christianity.
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Another mystery (to me) is why he specifies his God is the same as theirs:
John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Stop holding me {note}, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brethren and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” -note: holding onto feet Mt 28:9. likely said with a smile
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In my opinion, the mystery of St. Mary of Magdalene is among the closest held ‘secrets’ within the Church (and not for the blasphemous reasons people have imagined in modern times).

I believe I DO know the ‘secret’ but it’s just a guess and conjecture on my part so I wouldn’t share it and cause others to stumble. But it’s really crazy and relies on off scripture texts and other suspicions.

Anyhow. The reason why she’s so ‘mysterious’ is because our conscious bares truth of this. We just obviously don’t logically ‘know’ why but our senses tell us there’s something more.

But here are some clues and hints.
Accompanied by Martha, Lazarus, Mary Salome and Mary Jacoby, the disciples Maximin and Sidonius [two of the 70 disciples referred to in the Gospels], with Marcella their servant, Mary Magdalene embarked [or were forced onto] a small boat, crossed the Mediterranean, and arrived near the city of Marseilles [France], then known as Massilia. The small port where they came ashore was called Rha that later became known as Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Holy Marys of the Sea).
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Tradition maintains that the boat with its eight passengers docked safely, and that it had neither oars, sails, nor steering device. It could have run into a storm that destroyed its gear, or it could have been pushed out to sea in that unstable condition by their persecutors; whatever the actual cause of the crippling of their boat, they all set foot in Rha.
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After the Ascension, being torn with such terrible grief at his absence, she withdrew to a barren land where she remained for thirty years. Never in need of nourishment, God’s angels came down seven times a day and transported her up to where she could hear the celestial music of heaven, and then carried her back to her grotto carved in the rock. It is for this reason that she was never hungry or thirsty.
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Following 30 years spent in prayer and longing to be reunited with Jesus, the day came when Jesus enlightened her that death was approaching, and He guided her down the hill toward the village of Villalata. On the way there (and a pillar still marks the place), she was met by Maximin who had been divinely inspired to go to meet her and lead her to his church. Once there, having received holy communion from his hand, she falls lifeless before the altar. The date was July 22, around the year 72 A.D. (around the time the Temple was destroyed)
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Augustine3 said:
Magdala is the famous place where fish were salted “pickled”. If Jesus didn’t grant this lovely lady from Magdala this special privilege he or his apostles may not have had the privilege to purchase salted fish 😃
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No one found that funny…I thought it was a crack up 🤷
 
Monsignor Charles Pope has some thoughts on this:
St Thomas Aquinas:
Reply to Objection 3. A woman is not to be allowed to teach publicly in church; but she may be permitted to give familiar instruction to some privately. And therefore as Ambrose says on Luke 24:22, “a woman is sent to them who are of her household,” but not to the people to bear witness to the Resurrection.
Msgr Pope
Thus the objection is set aside in this case because although a woman should not give magisterial teaching in the sacred assembly, it is certainly fitting that she should witness to and give instruction within her household.
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St. Paul also mentions many women (Lydia, Chloe, Nympha, Apphia, Mary, Persis, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Priscilla, Euodia, Syntyche, Phoebe, and Junia) participating in extended roles of service and in the work of evangelization. Outside the liturgy and other modes of official teaching, St. Paul’s teaching of women remaining silent does not seem to apply.
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St. Thomas here reminds us of an important distinction. While a woman is excluded from giving the official teaching in the liturgy, in the familial setting she is still called to be among those who teach and bear witness. St. Thomas implies that the Apostles and first disciples form a family, hence there is no violation of the norms.
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St. Thomas then turns his attention to another reason that it was fitting for the women to see Christ first and then to announce this to the Apostles:
St Thomas Aquinas:
But Christ appeared to the woman first, for this reason, that as a woman was the first to bring the source of death to man, so she might be the first to announce the dawn of Christ’s glorious Resurrection. Hence Cyril says on John 20:17: “Woman who formerly was the minister of death, is the first to see and proclaim the adorable mystery of the Resurrection: thus womankind has procured absolution from ignominy, and removal of the curse.”
Msgr Pope:
Here is a great reversal of the order of Original Sin. Whereas Eve was deceived and then enticed her husband, now woman is offered the opportunity to see first and then to call man back from darkness and sin to behold the grace of the resurrection glory.
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St. Thomas then adds a third teaching:
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Hereby, moreover, it is shown, so far as the state of glory is concerned, that the female sex shall suffer no hurt; but if women burn with greater charity, they shall also attain greater glory from the Divine vision: because the women whose love for our Lord was more persistent—so much so that “when even the disciples withdrew” from the sepulchre “they did not depart” [Gregory, Hom. xxv in Evang.]—were the first to see Him rising in glory.
Msgr Pope:
Love more quickly lays hold of the beloved than does mere affinity or friendship. The intensity of the women’s love described in the scriptural account makes them more tenacious and the Lord rewards such love, sending them to men of the family of disciples. Indeed, many a man has been saved unto the Lord by the devotion of his wife and her constant call for him to join her at the Lord’s feet.
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Beyond theology, it is a culturally observed phenomenon that women are more naturally spiritual and intense than men. And while this may have disposed Eve to be too willing to succumb to the deceiving appeals of Satan, it is also what made Mary Magdalene and the other women more able to see him first.
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joseie said:
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John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Stop holding me {note}, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brethren and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” -note: holding onto feet Mt 28:9. likely said with a smile
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Mary Magdalene was holding on to the old Jesus. She wanted to go back to the way things were.
 
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