So why Magda/Magdalene?
Nicely first, the ending “ene” in Greek (and in addition in Aramaic) is only a feminizer, like how in English we feminize phrases by ending them with “ess” (host/hostess, actor/actress, waiter/waitress, priest/priestess, prophet/prophetess, and so on).
So take off the ene, and also you get the phrase Magda, or in Aramaic, Migdal, each which imply “tower.”
Mary, known as the Tower.
Truly, Mary the Tower-ess.
Simon is known as Peter.
Mary is known as Magdal.
Simon is known as the Rock.
Mary is known as the Tower.
That is often the place I begin crying. As a result of someplace deep in my soul, I’ve all the time identified Mary was extra. I’ve all the time felt she had one thing else to do within the story apart from be a sinful, fallen girl and even need to be hooked up to Jesus romantically someway (no thanks ceaselessly Dan Brown).
She is a disciple. An vital one even. As a result of she is given a reputation apart from her personal as a signifier of who she is, not only for Jesus however for all of us.
Peter is the rock.
Mary is the tower.
Peter is the rock. He doubts and questions and falters and stumbles and denies and runs away. And but he’s the inspiration on which the Church is constructed.
Mary is the tower. She stands sturdy regardless of her grief and loss and damaged coronary heart. She stays when everybody else runs away. She exhibits up on the tomb when everybody remains to be hiding.
Turning the lens – even only for a minute – to Mary, we see a robust testomony of what it appears wish to profess religion within the midst of every little thing falling aside. And I believe this makes her significantly vital for us on this explicit time and explicit place, and particularly throughout this ramp as much as Easter.
Mary is the tower as a result of we do not solely want a rock on which to construct our religion. We additionally want a tower of religion to look to when every little thing falls aside. We’d like an instance of regular and strong religion that deeply mourns and retains displaying up.
She is a tower and he or she is devastated.
She is each – to indicate us that we may be each.
And we’d like that proper now. Every single day brings information and pictures and tales and experiences worse than the following. An increasing number of individuals we all know and love are impacted. It’s compounded grief as a result of it looks like we barely get a deal with on one laborious factor when the following laborious factor comes barreling at us. And that’s not even together with the common life laborious issues.
We’d like Mary in our life of religion too. Our Tower to information us, to carry us up, to supply shelter, to remind us that we can also present up whilst we grieve and wrestle to belief and communicate our religion out loud. We’d like Mary the Tower to carry us regular after we can’t be regular ourselves.
We do nearly not possible issues throughout Holy Week.
