When Jesus Called Her by Name
Why Mary Magdalene recognised the risen Jesus only when he called her name
Welcome to today’s reflection.
If you have recently joined us, welcome! Each day, paid subscribers receive an exclusive reflection designed to offer a thoughtful pause amid ordinary life. My prayer is that these brief pieces create a little space for curiosity, contemplation and wonder amid the noise of the day.
If you’ve recently joined us, you may also be interested in my new book, Sacred & Secular: Find God in the Ordinary, which brings together some of the most popular and thought-provoking essays from this journey so far.
There are moments in life when grief changes the way we see everything.
It doesn’t simply make us sad. It narrows our world, and it teaches us to expect more disappointment, more loss, more silence. Even good things can begin to look like reminders of what we’ve lost.
I have experienced this in my own life, and seen it while walking alongside others through illness, bereavement and disappointment. Grief has a remarkable way of changing not only how we feel, but how we interpret the world around us.
Perhaps you’ve experienced it yourself. A difficult diagnosis. A bereavement. The end of a relationship. A dream that slipped away. The world keeps turning, but you find yourself interpreting everything through the lens of sorrow.
Mary Magdalene knew exactly what that felt like.
