Dear Magdala Family, I wish to send you an affectionate greeting and our best wishes for a Blessed Christmas. I ask that Jesus Christ, Our Lord, be born again in our hearts and fills them with his peace and love. I also want to explain the reason for my silence in the past few weeks.…
Dear Magdala Family, Summer is passing us by… we hope you have enjoyed some rest and family life despite the difficulties of the present moment. In the Holy Land we are preparing for you our third virtual pilgrimage which is fast approaching. This edition which we have titled, “Traveling through the Holy Land with Mary…
Jewish sources speak of two rabbis from Magdala that lived in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD: Isaac and Yudan. Isaac of Magdala lived in the 3rd century AD. In an ancient commentary of Genesis (Genesis Rabbah) there appears a discussion about Gn 3:17, when God cursed the earth because of the original sin. Some…
My name is Mary Clare, and I’m the new Magdala volunteer! I first visited Magdala in 2017 with a group from my university. I remember being awestruck, thinking, “My Lord Jesus likely stood here?” I’ve always connected deeply with Jesus’ ministry in the Galilee, where Jesus used familiar subjects of nature and basic livelihood for…
The warm rose-colored sunrise over the silent Sea of Galilee captivates anyone spirited enough to venture out over the waters before dawn. Last week just before sunrise, I paddled toward the center of the lake from the Duc In Altum shoreline. At this distance, the only sound was water lightly lapping the edge of my…
Dearest Magdala Family, We are in the final stretch of preparation for the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene celebrated on the 22nd of this month. A few years ago, Pope Francis elevated this liturgical memory to the rank of “feast.” With this, the Pope wanted to underline the importance of Mary Magdalene in the life…
In his youth, Rabbi Shimon Ben Lakish (3rd century C.E.) was a gladiator, leading a vicious life. However, after a chance encounter with Rabbi Johanan, he changed his life and would in turn become one of the wisest and sharpest rabbis that ever existed. One day, Ben Lakish had a bitter dispute with Rabbi Judah…
The Gospels say that Mary Magdalene was delivered by Jesus from seven demons, that she followed him and helped him with her resources (see Lk 8:1-2), that she was at the foot of the cross (see Jn 19:25), and that she was the first to see the risen Lord (see Jn 20:11-17). Nothing else. In…
In May, Galilee looks like a giant quilt of vibrant green and golden yellow squares with fields ready for the early summer wheat harvest. Hiking these hills in April, I picked off heads of waist-high young wheat nibbling on the kernels inside, imitating the apostles who Mathew describes picking heads of grain and eating them…
Ancient Jewish sources speak of a certain Nikai, who was a scribe at the synagogue of Magdala in the 2nd century AD. According to some, he was an exemplary Jew: every Friday morning he would travel from Magdala to Jerusalem, give a lesson on the scriptures in the Temple, and then return before the sunset…
