Perhaps the most radical Christian belief is a belief in the equal and innate dignity and worth of every single person. It subverts every cultural, historical, and biological form of unjust prejudice. St. Paul articulates it clearly in saying, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Of course, the history of prejudice and inequality, of dehumanization and depersonalization is long and ugly, and the struggle in our culture and within our faith to accept this belief and translate it fully into just practices persists to this day.

But today’s Gospel shows that this mission, so integral to building the kingdom of God, so radical and subversive, has been with the Church since the beginning. St. Mary Magdalene, the apostle to the apostles, who remains courageous and faithful during the Passion…