mary magdalene, stand your ground . . . 16th week monday 2013

The Egyptians were in pursuit and the Israelites where in a state of panic.  They even blamed Moses for bringing them out of Egypt. They even taunted him saying, “Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert?”  But Moses answered them saying, “fear not, stand your ground.”

Stand your ground.  Many times we fail because we react immediately, we get carried away by our fears or by our anger, we make conclusions without really assessing the situation and we act on those conclusions.  But “stand your ground” is a call to reflect, to discern, to think things through or just simply, it is a call to stop. 

In the gospel too we find Mary Magdalene carried away by her sorrow, making hasty conclusions, able to imagine even the weirdest scenario she can think of, like gardeners stealing the body of Jesus.  Again the call is to stand your ground. – it is a call to reflect, to think things through or just simply to stop.

Today as we celebrate the feast of Mary Magdalene we thank the Lord for giving this woman a second chance.  Many times the most loyal and the most faithful disciples are those who have been given second chances.  Probably because the loving becomes more concrete in the forgiving – not so much in the caring but in the forgiving – the greater the forgiveness, the greater is the love.