Afterward he
journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the
good news of the kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some
women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called
Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s
steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their
resources.[1]
When reading this passage, there are
probably many people who, like me, would just treat this passage as informative
and just keep reading. However, if we
pause and think, we must wonder why the evangelist finds it necessary to
include this. He could have very well
omitted it, and there would—in our opinion—no impact upon the Gospel. Nevertheless, he found it very necessary to
include it.
Of course, it could be as one
commentary says: “Men and women enjoy equal dignity in the Church. Within the
context of that equality, women certainly have specific characteristics which
must necessarily be reflected in their role in the Church: “All the baptized,
men and women alike, share equally in the dignity, freedom and responsibility
of the children of God.… Women are called to bring to the family, to society
and to the Church, characteristics which are their own and which they alone can
give—their gentle warmth and untiring generosity, their love for detail, their
quick-wittedness and intuition, their simple and deep piety, their constancy.…
A woman’s femininity is genuine only if she is aware of the beauty of this
contribution for which there is no substitute—and if she incorporates it into
her own life (St Josemaría Escrivá, Conversations,
14 and 87). The Gospel makes special
reference to the generosity of these women. It is nice to know that our Lord availed
himself of their charity, and that they responded to him with such refined and
generous detachment that Christian women feel filled with a holy and fruitful
envy (cf. St J. Escrivá, The Way,
981).”[2] However, that does not have much an impact
upon me, although it is true. This is
not going to change my life nor encourage me.
It is not a “golden nugget.”
Let us accompany Jesus in his
Catholic Church; let us follow his teachings as he instructs us through his
Church. He is still visible in the
Catholic Church. When the secular media
speaks on things Christian, they almost invariably go to the Catholic Church. It is here that Jesus is seen. It is for this reason that the Catholic
Church is attacked. They hated Jesus;
therefore, they hate his Body. Let us,
therefor, accompany him in the Church, allowing the Holy Spirit to utilize our
every obedience to permeate the world.
We cannot do this if we become the world ourselves, nor can we do this
through hatred and attacks. We must be
as the Church instructs us. We must
become Susanna--an illustrious woman who, healed by Christ, had become His
disciple. Venerable Bede tells us “her
name in the Hebrew signifies ‘a lily,’ on account of the sweet radiance of a
heavenly life (Interlinear Gloss), and the golden fervor of her inward
affection.”[5] We become like Susanna when we first become
like Mary Magdalene and Joanna.
“Mary is, by interpretation, ‘bitter
sea,’ because of the loud wailing of her penitence; Magdalene, ‘a tower or,
rather, belonging to a tower,’ from the tower of which it is said, ‘You are
become my hope, my strong tower from the face of my enemy.’ Joanna is, by interpretation, ‘the Lord her
grace,’ or ‘the merciful Lord,’ for from Him comes everything that we dive
upon. If Mary, cleansed from the
corruption of her sins, points to the Church of the Gentiles, why does not
Joanna represent the same Church formerly subject to the worship of idols--for
every evil spirit, while he acts for the devil’s kingdom, is as it were Herod’s
steward.”[6]
Of a side note: Of course, the name “Mary”
brings to mind our Blessed Mother. “Mary”
is an extremely appropriate name for her.
“Bitter sea” can also mean “bitter tears.” Do not our hearts break when we see that they
will not heed good advice and venture into things we know are not good for
them? This is also true for the Virgin
Mary. Oh, how many “bitter tears” do she
shed when she sees our sins? She is, as
we know, our Lady of Seven Sorrows.
In the Hebrew, Magdalene signifies “turreted
or tower-bearing,” for she was tall of stature and of a yet loftier mind. "Your neck is like the tower of David"
(Cant.4:4). Origen says “Magdalene”
means "magnificent" or "magnified" because, says Origen,
she followed Jesus, ministered unto Him, and beheld the mystery of His Passion.
Pagninus says that Magdalene means
"remarkable for the standard," "bearing or raising the
standard," for the Magdalene raised the standard of penitence and love and
of the contemplative life, e.g. "His banner over me was love" (Cant. 2:4). Also, the name means "brought up,
nourished," i.e. led by the teaching of Christ to a holy and a virtuous
life.[7]
This is Mary Magdalene, “out of whom
seven devils are reported to have gone, that it might be shown that she was
full of all vices.,[8] or “out
of whom went seven devils, i.e. seven capital sins--pride, avarice, gluttony,
luxury, anger, envy, and careless living (Bede, Theophylact, and St. Gregory).”[9] We also need these capital sins removed from
us, that we may permeate the world as these women did. “These women followed Christ (1) out of
gratitude, because He had healed their diseases and cast out the devils which
possessed them, (2) for safety, lest, if they were away from their physician,
their former ills might again overtake them, and (3) from pious motives, that
from His companionship and preaching they might advance in holiness.”[10]
If we keep all this in mind, we can find,
in the “informative,” a golden nugget, and permeate the world as Christ desires
us to.
[1] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), Lk 8:1–3.
[2] Saint Luke’s Gospel,
The Navarre Bible, (Dublin; New York: Four Courts Press; Scepter Publishers,
2005), 89.
[3]
Joseph Ratzinger, Co-Workers of the
Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year, ed. Irene Grassl,
(San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992), 303.
[4] Aquinas, St. Thomas. Catena Aurea - Gospel of St.
Luke - EasyRead Version (Kindle Locations 4258-4259). Kindle Edition.
[5] A Lapide SJ, Cornelius. The Great Commentary of
Cornelius A Lapide: The Gospel of St. Luke (Kindle Locations 4446-4448).
Veritatis Splendor Publications. Kindle Edition.
[7] Ibid., (Kindle Locations 4422-4430). Veritatis
Splendor Publications. Kindle Edition.
[8] Aquinas, St. Thomas. Catena Aurea - Gospel of St.
Luke - EasyRead Version (Kindle Locations 4263-4264). Kindle Edition.
[9] A Lapide SJ, Cornelius. The Great Commentary of Cornelius
A Lapide: The Gospel of St. Luke (Kindle Locations 4431-4434). Veritatis
Splendor Publications. Kindle Edition.
[10] Ibid., (Kindle Locations 4408-4411). Veritatis
Splendor Publications. Kindle Edition.
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