Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Psalm
42:1-7
The Readings
Judith 9:1,11-14 + II Corinthians 5:14-18 + John 20:11-18
At the very time when the evening incense was being offered in the house of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice, and said, “Your strength does not depend on numbers, nor your might on the powerful. But you are the God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forsaken, savior of those without hope."
~Judith 9:1,11
Judith reminds us of what cannot be stressed too often. Indeed, the scriptures emphasize it over and over again. Our God is the God of the lowly, the oppressed, the weak, the forsaken, the hopeless. Read those traits again. These are not "winners." These are not "successful" people. These are not traits we desire. And yet these are the ones for whom God has special concern. From the calling into covenant a small, insignificant nation, through the prophets' continual call to care for the widow and orphan, the poor and the foreigner, to Jesus' being born into a poor family in an oppressed country--"God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong" (I Cor. 1:27).
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most faithful and loving disciples. She was probably also someone who had suffered severely from mental illness. Luke's Gospel tells us that Jesus had healed her from "seven demons"--it is generally believed that mental disorders in the ancient world were often attributed to demons. It's an understandable attribution. Even today, with all our knowledge, mental illness is frightening. Both as individuals and as a society, we often don't know what to do with such people. And so they get left behind, forgotten. Whatever the source of her demons, Mary's life before her healing was undoubtedly one that many of us would find uncomfortable, unseemly, even shameful. Not so to Jesus. Not so to his Father. Our God is the "savior of those without hope."
Take a moment to consider what it means for you to worship a God like this. Where would you place yourself on a spectrum of powerful to lowly? Are you the among those who cry out to God with heaviness and distress in your soul? Are you among those who hear such cries and recognize the beloved of God?
Closing Prayer
God of the hopeless, may we never forget the great love you have for all who cry out to you in confusion, in fear, in distress. Help us to hear their voice, to reach out in compassion like Jesus, and with them to put our trust in him, who is our hope. Amen.
