The First Church

This past weekend was Easter Sunday. It is a day when Christians take time off from Easter egg hunts to reflect on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the Catholic Church there is a three year cycle of Gospel readings. The Sunday reading was from John's Gospel, and Monday's reading was from Matthew. Both provide an interesting insight that, I never before thought deeply about. The first person(s) to visit the tomb, was not a male disciple, but rather, depending on the account, was a woman, or two women. As a priest at St John's Abbey wrote: "Mary (Magdalene) is the first to experience the resurrection and she is the first to proclaim this great news." The proclamation of the great news was not reserved for a male disciple, but for a female.

Jesus praying in the Garden

Dark still covered the springtime landscape of Jerusalem on that morning following the Sabbath, when one or perhaps two women made their way to the tomb where Jesus' dead body had been laid to rest following his crucifixion on the previous Friday afternoon. John's Gospel (20:1) has Mary Magdalene going to the tomb and saw that the stone was removed. Matthew's Gospel (28:1) has Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" walking to see the tomb. In John, Mary Magdalene runs to tell the disciples who are holed up in the upper room, likely the place of the Last Supper. In Matthew, an angel appears and says to them, "He is not here for he has been raised, as he said. Come see the place where he lay. Then go quickly to tell his disciples, He has been raised from the Dead." 

As they leave, according to Matthew, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary met Jesus and they greeted each other, and this is where Jesus instructs them to tell his the others to meet him in Galilee. Mark's account is similar with Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, taking spices to the tomb, and encounter a man in white. Luke also has two women going to the tomb.

Cell at Caiaphas' residence

The details may vary but there is agreement among the four Gospels that the first person(s) to the tomb were Mary Magdalene and likely with another Mary. All the times I have heard the Gospel readings it never struck me until the Friday before this past Easter Sunday, when someone, in an on-line study of the upcoming Gospel reading made note of the importance of this. For the fifteen or twenty minutes it took the woman to make their way from the tomb to the upper room, they were the first members of the Church. For it was to these two women that the Paschal Mystery of the Life, Death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was first reveled. It was two women who held that most joyful mystery in their hearts until they reached the upper room and proclaimed the good news to the others. For that period of time they were the first Church.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre 

The first Church was not a male disciple. The men were resting, or cowering, in the upper room. Instead it was two women, with perhaps one, Mary Magdalene, possibly being formerly of ill-repute, although that has been discounted by some modern research. Let us say that Mary Magdalene came with some baggage, something that we all bring when we present ourselves. We are not perfect.

Mass at Jesus' burial spot

The Paschal Mystery was essentially revealed to two women that first Easter. Even with that, the decision making in the Roman Catholic Church has been by males. Many in the hierarchy are intent on keeping it that way. John Paul II, did his best pretzel gymnastics to keep it that way. Although, he did not ban female deacons. 

Via Dolorosa, the path Christ took carrying the Cross

With a single all-male-discipline for clergy, the Church is unable to properly minister to its flock. We see it in Africa, the Amazon and even here in the United States. I think of my uncle's funeral where a deacon said the prayer at the funeral home, and no one knew if he would even arrive. A priest said the funeral mass, but a different deacon was at the internment. The Church has floundered its ability to accompany people in times of grief, and even in times of joy. is it any wonder that the pews are emptying quicker than one can say "single all-male priesthood"?

Garden of Gethsemane

Given that God entrusted Mary Magdalene with proclaiming the good news should that not be the starting point for discussion of women's roles in the Church? If a woman is acceptable to be the first to realize the Paschal Mystery, is the first to proclaim the good news that Christ has written, why has man, yes man, prohibited woman from proclaiming the good news in future generations? 

Plaque Commemorating the Upper Room 
where the Last Supper was held

If it had not been for Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, how long would it have been before the men had come out of their fortress to find an empty tomb? Would we be celebrating the resurrection not on Sunday, but on Monday?  It was a female who told the men that Christ had risen, they did not discover it for themselves. For a short time, women were the first church.

Photos by author, 2013.