“I SOUGHT…I FOUND HIM WHOM MY SOUL LOVES” (Songs 3:1-4)

⏰Feast of St. Mary Magdalene (22 July 2017)

????Songs 3:1-4ab; Ps 63:2, 2-4, 5-6, 8-9 (R.v.2b); John 20:1-2, 11-18

In the celebration of the Feast day of St. Mary Magdalene, the Church invites us to appreciate better the role of this woman whom Pope Francis calls the Apostle of the Apostles. In her we learn true penitence and how best to reciprocate the love of God, who loved us first.

The writer of the Song of Songs made a beautiful description of a heart that is genuinely in love. This heart always seeks that one who is loved. St Augustine thinks that for every human heart, that which is loved is God, for he says at the beginning of his Confessions, “God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.”

Since it is only in God that we can find rest, it then means that we must seek him with everything that we have in our life. These things are wonderfully summarized under three ‘Ts’: Talent, Time and Treasure.

Mary Magdalene can really be our model in this task of total self-giving. The Gospels introduced her as that woman from whom Jesus casted out seven demons (cf. Luke 8:1-3).

She must have considered this act of Jesus as an immeasurable gift because thenceforth, she gave her entire self to Jesus. She loved Jesus so much that she always threw caution to the air in a bid to be with Jesus. The height of this is that even when all the apostles seemed to have lost hope in Jesus at his crucifixion, she remained with Jesus. That gave her the privilege of being the first of the disciples to see the resurrected Christ.

At our baptism, we were given as much gift as Mary Magdalene received from Jesus. Are we making good effort to love Jesus as much as she did?

May God grant us the grace to seek God with all our hearts and so win the crown of glory, which the Lord, the King of glory has prepared for us. Amen.

Kindly remember in your prayers, the deacons of the Congregation of the Sons of Mary Mother of Mercy and Umuahia Diocese who would be ordained Catholic Priests today.

Have a loving and joyful day spent in total dedication to God, our loving Father. Peace be with you.