I recently heard a talk given by Rita Houlihan, a board member of Future Church who commissioned an art series of Mary Magdalene by Laura James called the Stations of the Resurrection. Rita did so in order to put forth an accurate perspective on the role of Mary Magdalene, which has been misinterpreted for centuries to the detriment of women. Rita reflected on how the lectionary cuts short on Easter Sunday the same Gospel that we hear today, stopping before the first interaction with the resurrected Jesus and his commissioning of Mary Magdalene to be the first person to announce his resurrection.  Rita states: “If we cut out Mary Magdalene from the lectionary, we cut out the risen Jesus.” Without Mary, Peter wouldn’t have known where the tomb was since he did not stay at the cross. It was, of course, only the women who stayed. Through Mary Magdalene’s persistent accompaniment and her attentiveness to her emotions, she is able to both hold the pain and share the hope of this crucial moment.

As I write this, I happen to be visiting Los Angeles for a joyful celebration of love at a Los Angeles Catholic Worker wedding. It also happens to be the same weekend when ICE raided a garment factory and a Home Depot, arresting several immigrant workers, that sparked waves of protests across the city and the unconstitutional calling in of the National Guard. Raids and protests continue. It seems only fitting to reflect on the weekend full of both joy and pain that is the core of our faith, celebrating this feast of Mary Magdalene – a source of hope, beholder of pain, and announcer of justice. 

When her dear friend was murdered by state violence, Mary stood by. Her accompaniment was an act of courage and resistance when everyone else was too overcome with fear or sadness. And then she stayed present to her grief, staying at the tomb to weep. Had she not, she might have missed the surprise of this hope. So when Jesus was resurrected, an act of justice perhaps, she again stood by to receive him. She went out, a prophet to her community to announce this act of justice and hope. 

On Tuesday after the initial protests in L.A., the Catholic Workers and I attended an interfaith prayer vigil held downtown sponsored by several faith organizations in the area, ending with a procession to the detention center. One of those faith leaders, Rabbi Sharon Brous, senior rabbi of IKAR, shared: 

“Our conscience calls us to act. Our faith calls us to act. Our history calls us to act. Our broken hearts call us to act. At some point it becomes necessary to use our bodies to redeem the soul of the nation. That time is now. And so we extend to our immigrant family, to our neighbors, to our friends, to our Los Angeles community our loving embrace. We are here. We will not obey in advance. We will not turn our gaze. We will not fan the flames of extremism. We will not answer violence with violence. We will not turn against one another.”

Rabbi Sharon is calling us to use our bodies. To accompany our migrant brothers and sisters in this time of fear and violence perpetrated by the state that is tearing families apart. Mary Magdalene stood by to accompany Jesus through his pain, and in the justice that was served on the other side. She used her body to show up, to stand with, to hold and dress Jesus’s dead body, to look for him when his body was missing, and then go out and announce his resurrection, running to share the first good news of justice from her lips to her community. May we too be present to the emotions of this moment and stand together in this time of pain. May we continue our rally cries for justice. We are still in the darkness of the tomb, still weeping with Mary, but we pray that if we stay vigilant, one day we will get to announce the hope on the other side.  

Cole Arthur Riley in her book, This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us has a chapter on justice. In closing, she writes:

“In Genesis, when God gives Eve and Adam authority over creation, it is not permission to do whatever they want; it’s an honoring. It’s permission to be the mouth and hands of justice, protectors of every created thing. Over time we’ve taken this role to look more like domination than cultivation…This is a mistake that positions us in places where we are no longer close enough to another person or thing to perceive its pain or need. To be human in an aching world is to know our dignity and become people who safeguard the dignity of everything around us” (133-4).

May we, like Mary Magdalene, be “the mouth and hands of justice.” Just as Jesus commissions Mary, we are each commissioned to go out and spread the true call of the Gospel, which has been misconstrued in so many ways. May we call for justice, for Mary could not preach the story of the resurrection without its state violence. May we stay like Mary did, using our bodies to accompany each other in these times of pain and violence. And may we announce hope whenever and wherever we see it.

Dolores Mission is a Jesuit church located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. Their mission is as follows:

“Walking with Christ who suffers, dies, and rises with our people, Dolores Mission, a Jesuit Parish, responds to the spiritual, educational, physical, and emotional needs of our community. By listening to our needs, particularly through the Christian base communities and through grassroots organizing, we partner with outside agencies to allow Christ’s healing and transformation and to raise consciousness about larger issues of justice and peace.”

Dolores Mission is an example of a church that actually lives out the call of the Gospel, not just in what they preach on Sundays, but in how they show up in and listen to the community. Each evening they open their doors to be a shelter for unhoused folks in the community. The pastor, Fr. Brendan Busse, S.J., is on the front lines exuding nonviolence during protest in the streets. Powerful women serve in leadership roles at the parish. Previous pastor Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J. started Homeboy Industries. They offer programming for youth and civic engagement and organizing opportunities for adults. They show up in, with, for, and through the community.