“Woman, why do you weep?”
Mary of Egypt was a desert mother, who lived in the 4th century. She ran away from her home in Egypt when she was 12, and lived a degenerate life. Just shy of 30 years old, she went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to the festival of the Holy Cross, or what was believed to be the true cross on which Jesus hung. With few other assets after years of her wayward life, she paid for her passage to Jerusalem through offering sex to other pilgrims.
After hardships and failed attempts to enter the church, she finally made it, and was struck with the reality of her worldly life – how it had created so many troubles. She repented (another way of saying she stopped, and turned back to God), and promised to give up that world. She made her way back to Egypt, and lived the rest of her life as a hermit.
And while the introvert in my likes the idea of retiring to a cave, I’m especially struck this morning by her story. The accompanying reading is an account of Mary Magdalene’s discovery of the empty tomb. We have the story of two women named Mary with very, very different stories than the God bearer. One Mary had demons, and the other was runaway homeless sex-worker.
The formerly demon-possessed Mary Magdalene was the one who discovered the tomb. She had a deeply close relationship with Jesus, despite her history. Mary of Egypt lived a life of debauchery, and yet grew close to God through repentance, and reflection.
We have three Marys, with three very different stories, three very different paths. But ultimately, all three said yes to God, and their lives were changed forever. All were loved and cherished children of God, regardless of the path that got them to their own yes.
I’m struck how easy it is for us to throw away people now, to decide they don’t matter or couldn’t be children of God. I’m struck with how easy it is for us to think we don’t matter, or things we do make us out of God’s loving reach.
When in morning prayer we commemorate a modern day or ancient saint, there’s an accompanying prayer to wrap things up. Today’s prayer:
Merciful Lord, who raises up sinners by your boundless compassion and mercy: Cause the desert sun to burn away our coarseness and to melt our hardness of heart, that, like your servant Mary of Egypt, we may not depart from this life until we understand the ways of repentance and the benefits of prayer.
Today, I pray I have some coarseness burned away, and see the lost souls around me as beloved children of God. And that I find a cave to hid in for a while.
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