On Easter Sunday, the most sacred morning of the church year, most Catholics never hear the voice of the Risen Christ. That’s because the Roman Catholic Lectionary stops the Easter gospel at John 20:9 — before Jesus calls Mary Magdalene by name, before he commissions her to carry his Resurrection message, before she proclaims, “I have seen the Lord.”

The email below is a continuation of our Mary Magdalene Goes to the Synod campaign. Through that effort, FutureChurch and our Mary Magdalene advocates reached out to more than 170 synod officials, delegates, bishops, and experts around the world — and it worked! Paragraph 60 of the Synod on Synodality’s final document proposes expanding the lectionary to include more scriptural women, and specifically names Mary Magdalene’s Easter proclamation as a prime example. Read our full analysis of Paragraph 60 here.

Now we’re asking Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, to act on that proposal — by extending the Easter Sunday gospel to include John 20:1–18. The Synod has already pointed the way. This letter asks the Dicastery to follow it.

Will you add your voice?

Send an email to Cardinal Roche

Send Cardinal Roche an using the template below. You can send it as written, or personalize it with your own words. Every message, every voice matters.

Instructions

1. Copy the letter below.
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3. Add the recipient email address: cultdiv@ccdds.va.
4. Type a subject, e.g.: Easter Gospel Reading; Synod proposal; Women in the Lectionary
5. Personalize it any way you would like to (if you’d like to).
6. Add your name and location at the close.
7. Hit send.

His Eminence, Arthur Cardinal Roche
Prefect of the Dicastery of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

Your Eminence,

Today, the Roman Catholic Lectionary limits the Easter Sunday reading to John 20:1-9 – significantly diminishing the depth and richness of the Fourth Gospel’s full resurrection narrative. As a result, Catholics around the world — our children and all whom we love — do not hear the voice of the Risen Christ on Easter Sunday (John 20:14-17). We need our children to know that Jesus revealed his Risen Presence by calling the name of a faithful woman disciple — the only disciple who remained at his tomb — Mary Magdalene (John 20:16).

We all — church leaders included — need to know that Jesus blessed and authorized Mary Magdalene to carry his personal Resurrection message to his brothers and sisters, that is to all believers, inviting them into a direct relationship with God, our Father and Creator (John 20:17). Mary Magdalene is a powerful model of the ministry of witness. In these dark times, we need her witness. We need to see how she remained in the lonely darkness at the empty tomb even after Peter and the “beloved disciple” left (John 20:10-11). We need to hear her persistent, audacious, and desperate plea: “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away” (John 20:15b).

We need to hear Jesus’s response — his decision to entrust her with his life-giving, life-saving Resurrection invitation. It is a betrayal of the gospel that the vast majority of Catholics never hear Jesus’s own Resurrection message proclaimed from the pulpit on a Sunday: “Jesus said to her, ‘Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers [and sisters] and tell them, I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” (NABRE) (John 20:17). This loss is compounded when “adelphoi” is translated as “brothers” alone — a rendering that obscures the full witness of the Fourth Gospel, in which women are clearly vital disciples in the ministry of Jesus.

Above all, we need to see the ever-faithful Mary Magdalene fulfill her commission when she proclaims, “I have seen the Lord!” and tells the disciples all the other things Jesus taught her. (John 20:18)

Please issue a decree, effective immediately, that all Catholic Easter Sunday Masses will include John 20:1–18 as the gospel. This is an important step with precedent — it is already approved in Canada. The full Resurrection encounter — the calling of Mary’s name, her commissioning, and the message she carried — belongs to every Catholic on the holiest morning of the year. In addition, this would fulfill a commitment made in paragraph 60 of the Synod on Synodality’s final document.

With prayers and wishes for all of God’s blessings on you and your work,

[Your Name]
[Parish or Organization, if applicable]
[Diocese]
[Country]