What we can learn from St. Mary Magdalene

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THE very first lesson we can learn from the life of St. Mary Magdalene is that no matter how big and ugly our sins are, God’s grace or gift of mercy is always there, more powerful than whatever damage our sins can inflict on us. It validates what St. Paul once said: “Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.” (Rom 5,20)

We should never prolong our sadness over our mistakes, failures and sins. That would make the devil happy, since our sadness would make us a sitting duck to their evil tricks. We would not have the strength to protect ourselves.

Instead, even as we carry a heavy heart because of our sins, we should just follow the example of St. Mary Magdalene who showed greater love to Christ precisely because of her sinfulness that was forgiven. She wanted to make up, and did so with burning zeal.

As a consequence, she even received more favors from Christ. Among them is the fact that she became the first one to meet Christ after the resurrection, although our tradition maintains—and this is not explicitly mentioned in the Gospels—that Our Lady must have met Christ soon after his resurrection.

We have to reassure ourselves, based on what Christ has promised and has actually done for us, that there can be no sin that is too big for the grace of God to handle.

We have to remember that nothing happens in this life without at least the knowledge and tolerance of God. And if God allows some really bad things to happen, it is because a greater good can always be derived from them.

We just have to put ourselves in God’s side to tackle whatever crisis or sin plagues us. That is the real challenge we have to face. And just like what Christ did and continues to do to redeem us, we have to follow the formula he once spelled out: deny ourselves, carry the cross and then follow him. (cfr. Mt 16,24)

If we are willing to do that, then we can even gain a lot more than what we appear to lose and to suffer because of our sin. In other words, we can say that the bigger, the more serious the problem or the sin is, the bigger, plentier and stronger also would the grace God will give us. So, let us just be game and do our part of the bargain.

It’s not easy, of course. But neither is it impossible. It would really depend on how we see things. If we only consider the enormity of the problem, then we cannot help but feel overwhelmed and even get discouraged. But if we consider God’s abundant grace, even the impossible can be possible for us.

We need to educate ourselves always to remain calm and optimistic when faced with our persistent sinfulness, and just try our best to discern what God is showing us with respect to resolving that unfortunate condition of ours.

Yes, we have to learn to suffer. But let’s never forget that there is always the resurrection of Christ. Christ has already won for us the war against any form of evil. We just have to learn to be with him and not be so stupid as to do things simply on our own.

We have to strengthen our conviction that every sin we commit is an opportunity to grow in strength and quality in our spiritual life, in our love for God and others and the world in general. Yes, we need to develop a proper love also for the world. We have to conquer the world that will always be beset with the effects of our sins.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com