Today is the feast day for Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles. While many stories have been fabricated about her, Mary Magdalene’s story affirms the voice of women in the church. Mary Magdalene is an icon for those seeking full inclusion of women in leadership. She is an icon who urges women to understand the transforming love of God in Jesus Christ, to listen to God’s call. She’s an icon who stirs up courage in women, an example of leadership and discipleship for men and women alike.
Mary Magdalene was the first person called by Jesus to preach the good news. In calling for women’s ordination in the Roman Catholic Church, Sister Joan Chittister has written that “Mary Magdalene is a shining light of hope, a disciple of Christ, a model of the wholeness of life, in a world whose name is despair and in a church whose vision is yet, still, even now, partial.”
We honor Mary’s truth when all women in our church are respected for their ministries and all positions throughout the church are equally available to those who are ordained, women and men alike.
This message is excerpted from “Mary’s truth” by Linda Post Bushkofsky from the July 22, 2017, blog of the women of the ELCA. Today we commemorate Mary Magdalene, apostle.
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