玛利亚·玛达肋纳：女性、默观者、宗徒
按照教宗方济各的愿望，教会把圣女玛利亚·玛达肋纳纪念日指定为庆日。加尔莫罗隐修会孟买会院院长玛丽耶·詹玛修女介绍了这位圣女的重大意义、她是率先宣报耶稣复活的，标志着女性聪慧的伟大
孟买（亚洲新闻）—今年，按照教宗方济各的意愿，梵蒂冈圣座礼仪圣事部宣布圣女玛利亚·玛达肋纳纪念日升为庆日。以此，进一步充分展示女性的聪慧在教会中的重要性。她是第一批领受耶稣慈悲的、第一位宣讲救主复活的。加尔莫罗隐修会印度孟买会院院长玛丽耶·詹玛修女为我们反思了这位圣女的重大意义。全文如下：
Could it be a contradiction to ask what this new development would mean to a cloistered contemplative since Mary Magdalene went rushing out to meet Jesus?
It certainly would not because primarily a contemplative is one who having experienced God becomes a medium that communicates God to every person she meets. It is only a contemplative heart who would go rushing out in the thickest dark just before dawn to embalm the body of the One with whom she was connected with Love-bonds that nothing could sever.
Here I am reminded of an image that St. Teresa of Avila gives in her book the “Interior Castle.” It is the image of the silkworm. Speaking of the deep union of love that is effected in the soul she says it is indeed a death to self and a birth into the likeness of Christ. The silkworm spins its own cocoon in which it is to die, only to emerge as a bright and beautiful butterfly. So God himself becomes the house in which the soul dies, entering into the darkness of Christ’s own suffering and death, to be transformed into the new life of the spirit. This transformation brings with it the impetus to serve, to move ever deeply into the world of the spirit and to share in the redemptive love of the Saviour. The annihilation of the cross releases the power of the resurrection.
St. Mary Magdalene truly experienced this when she dared to stand at the foot of the Cross. This partaking of His death enabled her to be drawn by love to the tomb where she met Him. She experienced the power of knowing that HE, her love is Life; that He is God leading her to a new relationship, ‘Do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my God and your God, to my Father and your Father.’ Transformed herself she became the medium, the apostle to the apostles.
Only a contemplative could do this – be it a contemplative in the world or a contemplative in a cloister. A true contemplative is passionate, daring, tenacious, open to being drawn by love always, and ever going out of herself.
And so this raising of the memoria of St. Mary Magdalene to the ranks of a feast is the exaltation of the conviction that one is loved by Him no matter what. It is the exaltation of being contemplative, it is the exaltation of being a woman with the dignity given her by the One who created, saved and beautifies her to be the eternal Bride.
We feel delighted and proud that Holy Father is able to perceive the wonderful gifts that are the legacy of every woman.
