Welcome back my friend. It has been a little while. Today is the feast of St. Mary Magdalen and I want to share some important insights about what she has to teach us as Catholic educators. No matter what our background, it's unlikely we have a past as shady as Mary Magdalen and yet Christ radically transformed her life.

I also talk about the way that Mary Magdalen can help us think about our most difficult students.

Grab your free access to my awesome resource for Catholic teachers right here:

https://cf.onecatholicteacher.com/oct-opt-in

Find out about booking Jonathan to come and speak at your school or event

https://go.jonathandoyle.co/teacher-seminars

Well, Hey everybody, Jonathan Doyle with you once again for the Catholic

teacher, daily podcast, been a little break, have been beavering down

into the other podcasts that I do.

And I know many of you listen to that one as well, but I really

had it on my heart just to.

To start to, um, get back in the game, keep producing good content, keeping

couraging you guys out there every day, doing your remarkable work in

this journey of Catholic education.

There's a reason that we called the website one Catholic teacher,

because one Catholic teacher.

I can do the most extraordinary things, you know, in God's economy, in God's

view of the cosmos that he has shaped that the galaxies and solar systems

that he has spun from his fingertips.

Uh, small things matter just as much as big things.

And, uh, he is just as interested in, uh, the tiny details of insects

crawling through the Amazon as he is in the, uh, the supernova in the

outer reaches of the universe itself.

All of this is my way of saying that the way God values things is so

different to the way that I guess a postmodern secular culture values things.

So this again is my way of saying it's the small things you do every

day that make such a difference.

Uh, today.

Before I jump into VR.

If you're not a regular listener to this Catholic teacher daily podcast,

please hit that subscribe button and you'll find a bunch of stuff.

Uh, in these description notes, you can find how to book me to speak.

You can find how to get a free 10 week pass to the going deeper program.

So please subscribe, leave a review.

And, um,

I've always I'd love.

If you could share this with teachers now today, all I want to talk to you about is.

The feast day that we are celebrating, which is the feast day of one

of the all-time greats, uh, St.

Mary Magdalen, Mary of Magdala.

If you have seen the chosen series there at the scene in that first episode with

Mary of, uh, just misses me up, messes me up every time I watched it today

after morning, prayer still messes me up.

It's just the most powerful, beautiful scene of the interaction

between Jesus and Mary.

Magdalen now the holy Spirit's put it on my heart to share with you a couple of

things today about this great feast day.

The first thing is that if you've ever heard me speak live.

You know that I, that, that, uh, my thing, my stick, my real focus is this belief

that we are all called to become saints.

That's a real belief.

You know, we are all stumbling sinners along the path of grace, but we

are being called heavenward and we are being called to become saints.

And what I always remind Catholic teachers is when I tell them that, you

know, most teachers laugh and think that saints are these unique, special.

Almost extraterrestrial beings that, uh,

Zapped down to earth to do all sorts of holiness.

But the reason today is so important.

My friends is that Mary Magdalene is the best as we know a woman of ill repute.

A woman of the night, if you will.

I was lovable as Victoria in terms of woman of ill repute.

A house Seville repute.

Um, we don't know exactly what she was into, but, uh,

Not really the kind of girl that you'd bring home to meet.

Mom, I guess was one way we could describe it and a.

What we find is that not only.

Is she called and, you know, she's recognized now as a great Saint of the

church, he reminds us that sanctity sainthood is something we are all

called to no matter what our background is, no matter what our path is.

So if interaction have an encounter with Jesus can so radically

transform her life then is it not true that the encounter with Jesus

can and will do the same for us?

So, I guess my first point for all of us today is to realize that St

Mary Magdalene is a reminder that no one is beyond the reach of grace,

which leads into my second point.

The other thing on my heart this morning, as I prayed the divine office and saw

that she was the Saint of the day.

Is do not.

Ever think that any student is beyond the reach of grace?

I know my friend that you probably have a one to 10 or more students that, um,

that the Lord has sent as a gift into your life to increase your sanctity.

To help you grow in patience and acceptance and love.

He going, yes, Jonathan keep talking.

Uh, but I feel that Mary Magdalen today, the grace of

this feast day reminds us that.

There are many students who are also on a journey that come from

backgrounds, perhaps of difficulty in trauma and even neglect and abuse.

But we must not forget that no matter how difficult they are, if Jesus can

reach into the life of Mary Magdalen and transform his so radically, he can

also reach into the life of every single student and transform them radically.

So let's have that hope, that Christian hope.

That the encounter with Jesus, pray for your students, pray that they

might encounter the grace of Christ.

And remember that probably the most likely way they are going to encounter

the grace of Jesus Christ is through you.

On any given day, no pressure.

It doesn't need to be pressure.

It just needs to be an ongoing cooperation with the holy spirit.

Listen, the last thing I wanted to say to you was.

The readings for the day for St.

Mary Magdalene's feast day, the first reading some of the songs,

songs, and it's one of those.

You know, deeply passionate readings from that very special book where

the, the young woman is talking about.

You know, roaming through the streets, desperately seeking

the one, her heart disaster.

And then you go into the gospel.

And of course it's the encounter at the, um, in the graveyard, at the tomb where

Mary encounters Christ and both of those readings speak of an enormous passion, the

passion and the heart of Mary Magdalen.

She's sobbing, she's crying, she's desperate to find

the missing body of Jesus.

And then of course she encounters the risen Christ.

And what does he do?

He did what he did at the start.

He spoke her name.

He named her, he spoke deeply into her.

Experience, and it's the most beautiful gospel story.

And.

This reminds us both the song of songs that our relationship with God is not

meant to be a purely academic cool exercise, the commentary on the reading

space that he made that point that.

Um, relationship with God needs to be passionate.

That we need to pursue in seek him with the passion that Mary Magdalen had.

And it was a challenge for me because I like to think of

myself as a bit of a man's man.

And, um, you know, And, uh, and I kind of, it was challenging for me.

I thought, yes, that's right.

I need to be reminded of that.

I need to be reminded that this is the ground of being, this is the, the

Victor, the trajectory of aspiration of my life is to pursue God issued Christ,

pursue the holy spirit powerfully and passionately on a daily basis.

All right.

Friends summary, um, Today is the reminder.

That saints are not mystical.

Beings.

Saints are broken sinners who encountered Christ and were radically transformed.

And that includes you.

Uh, the second reminder is that your students, some of your students are going

to be broken, difficult, challenging people like I'm sure Mary Magdalen

might've been before she met Christ, but let's not remember that the most

difficult student in your classroom today is never beyond the reach of grace.

And finally, let us be reminded to seek the Lord with passion.

God bless you, everybody.

I hope that's a little bit of daily encouragement for you.

Go and check out all these links.

Book me to speak.

Go and um, go and check out the free access to the going deeper program but

thank you for what you're doing every day my name's jonathan doyle this has been

the catholic teacher daily podcast and you and i are going to talk again tomorrow