Mary's witness

This next week is the feast of St Mary Magdalene, July 22. Mary was one of Jesus' first followers, and is a significant character in all of the gospels. Luke tells us Jesus healed her from demons, and she is always counted among the inner circle, remaining with other women at the cross when the rest of the disciples flee. John has her as the first apostle of the resurrection, after her beautiful meeting with the risen Jesus in the garden. The early church, particularly the Coptic church in Egypt, circulated a Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the only gospel attributed to a woman. She was clearly a leader in the early Jesus movement.

The later church seems to have tried to remove her from that role, uncomfortable with women's leadership and apparent equality In God's eyes. But the glimpses we get of Mary, like the glimpses we get of other women in the Bible, show us just enough to intrigue us. In the Gospel of Mary itself, Peter debates whether Jesus could possibly have taught a woman. Levi responds to him, 'If the Savior made her worthy, who are you then for your part to reject her?' As we see also in the long exchange Jesus has with the Samaritan woman at the well, the stubborn witness of scripture and even tradition are that women were and always have been central to God's good news. 

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the General Convention decision to ordain women to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. It took us till 1976 to make the decision that it seems God had already made long before!