Today's Devotion
Wednesday, July 22, 2026 – St. Mary Magdalene - Acts 18:1-11, 23-23
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
Today, the church honors St. Mary Magdalene. Her life as a Christian disciple began with God’s grace, as Jesus cast out seven demons from her (Luke 8:2). Her response of faith brought her justification and healing. And her works were the fruit of this divine grace and gift of faith (Eph 2:8-9). She was a disciple, but not an apostle – a hearer of the Word, but not a preacher of the Word. But in a way, Mary was given a greater honor than preacher, for she was the first witness of the risen Lord (John 20:16). And she was tasked to “go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you” (Mark 16:7). In the 12th century, St. Bernard of Clairvaux called Mary “the apostle to the apostles.” Because she was one of the women who came to the tomb to embalm the body of Jesus, Mary is honored as “Myrrhbearer” in the churches of the East.
In spite of the modern narrative that Christian patriarchy is oppressive and demeaning to women, what we really see in both Scripture and in church history is a reverence for women. Jesus broke many of the taboos among both Jews and Gentiles that actually did demean women. And at the same time, Jesus did not overturn the order of creation in which there are specific vocations of male and female in the family and in society. Not only is St. Mary an example of both feminine discipleship and feminine submission – so also we see this in today’s reading from St. Luke’s Acts of the Apostles.
St. Paul meets his friends, fellow Jews turned Christian disciples, Aquilla and Priscilla – a husband and wife in Corinth. The three work together making tents. Paul, and soon, Silas and Timothy, continue leading the church and preaching the Gospel. Paul “reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks” that “the Christ was Jesus.” And, as usual, some Jews were convinced by Paul’s preaching, while others “opposed and reviled him.”
In Ephesus, Paul meets “an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures,” a “Jew named Apollos” who “began to speak boldly in the synagogue.” But he did need some correction on some of his preaching. And here we meet “Priscilla and Aquila” once again – this time, Luke places Priscilla’s name first. “They took [Apollos] and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” Apollos, following this private correction, “powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.” Like Paul, Timothy, Silas, and the other men whom Jesus placed into the office of the holy ministry, Apollos is tasked with the public proclamation and defense of the faith.
Like Mary Magdalene, Priscilla is a devout disciple, filled with the Holy Spirit, knowledgeable of the Word of God, and not of lesser value because of her sex (Gal 3:28). But at the same time, she is not called to preach as a missionary or lead as a presbyter in the church. She is not called to exercise authority over men (1 Tim 2:12), nor to proclaim Jesus in the public assembly of the church (1 Cor 14:34-35). Both Sts. Mary and Priscilla have become models for the Christian life, for men and women alike, for their courageous confession and obedience to the life to which the Lord has called them.
Why God did not choose women to be preachers, pastors, and bishops is a mystery. But it is the Word of God that instructs us that this is God’s will. One cannot be faithful to the Word of God by breaking the Word of God. Rather, both men and women who follow the Lord Jesus Christ should joyfully do so within their vocations, whether as preacher or hearer, because “the Christ is Jesus.”
Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thank you for commentary on the scriptures readings. They remain a blessing to me. I have a question about the Jewish culture regarding learning a trade. One would think that Paul who was highly educated and considered a future leader of the Pharisee sect would not have to be trained in a trade because he would be too occupied with serving as a Pharisee in the temple and in educational venues. Yet "...Paul was a tentmaker...". I'm wondering if, in Jewish culture, no matter your intellectual achievements, every male had to learn a trade that they could use to make money? Thanks for your consideration.