This morning's mass was done without any chanting or music as it traditional at Gethsemani on all Monday's and Friday's. As this is the feast of the Magdalene I thought the absence of music was a wonderful contrast to her won experience in the garden. It was early morning, she was essentially alone in her grief, and there would not have been any noise from the city, or much else except the crickets and birds. The real music of this feast is her encounter with the Risen Christ.
We encounter Christ is the silence of our hearts in much the same way St. Mary Magdalene encountered him in that silent garden. It is only in our silence that we can encounter the Christ that is within us, and I think that is an important aspect of this feast: Mary met Christ in silence, we meet Christ in silence. So much of religious expectation is full of imaginary angels singing and a lot of orchestral music, but the truth is that when we encounter him in our hearts it is always in silence, just as it was for the prophet Elijah on Mt. Horeb.
Mary Magdalene in the Garden by Sieger Koder
Isn't it funny how our expectations of encounters with God and the reality of encounters with God are never the same?
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