Mary Magdalene’s witness: ‘Here’s what I can tell you: I was one way. And now I am completely different.’

Today marks the feast of St. Mary Magdalene.

I was reminded of this beautiful scene in “The Chosen,” when Nicodemus encounters a woman he had seen weeks earlier who had been tormented by demons. He visited her home and attempted to exorcise the demons, evidently without success.

But seeing Mary in the marketplace changes everything. As she would later, Mary becomes in this moment the first witness to a miracle — and is, herself, a living miracle.

This day, let us pray for all those who hunger for a miracle in their lives, especially those who are haunted by demons — mental, spiritual, physical, emotional, psychological.

Pray for those haunted during this pandemic by demons of fear and sickness, of uncertainty and anxiety.

Pray for those haunted during this time by demons of hostility and racism and injustice.

Pray for those haunted during this economy by demons of poverty, unemployment, hunger or worry.

St. Mary Magdalene, first proclaimer of the Resurrection, we pray to you and ask you to pray for us. Help us to know consolation and courage, healing and hope.

Help us to be, like you, heralds of hope, that we may announce his Good News, with wonder and joy, to a worried and doubting world.

Amen.

For those interested, here’s an interview with Elizabeth Tabish, the actress who plays Mary.