Hello my dear family and friends.  You know I am witnessing and living my vocation serving The Old Catholic Unified community in my town Gevgelija and all around  Macedonia, serving as a Dominican friar to the poor, marginalized and LGBTQ communities.

As a Dominican friar I want to share that today we celebrate the legacy, the life and the ministry with her example of serving of this holy mother Mary Magdalene, equal to the apostle.

Many centuries ago, the General  Chapter of our Order Dominican declared her as a Defender and Protector of our order.

Me living in such a conservative and anti LGBTQ society makes me motivated through her example and intercessions for all of us as a very close friend of Jesus.

She faced daily struggles of rejection, not acceptance and bigotry, because she was honored to be the very first human creation to see the empty tomb and our risen Lord Jesus.

She was the first ever to talk to Jesus on the resurrection morning.

While the humanity in that age treated the woman badly, Jesu embraced her, accepted her, blessed her and gave her authority to preach the gospel even in Rome to the emperor.  In the eastern European tradition, she was the first lady to paint a red egg and to announce the resurrection gospel to the world.  (Red represents the blood of Christ and it’s the most important color when painting eggs.)

Do you think it was easy in that time? Certainly not easy.  It was very difficult, and there was much suffering because of the gender inequality with which she struggle.  Even the apostles laughed at her and did not believe her when she told them what she sow and with whom she talked.

Are we not the same today? Racial hatred, LGBTQ phobia, divisions in the nations?  This is not t God’s agenda.

Our goal and our agenda is acceptance, integrity, equality and integration.

I have learned a lot through her example and suffering.

I fight daily for improving of this marginalized people toward  equality for everyone.

Its still the same today like in that time, people still want us to be put in box, just because they have built themselves to hate. Is that correct?

Is that the Gospel of Jesus?

NO!

Our goal and ministry is to be fully integrated, regardless of gender, sexuality, races.  We are taught in Galatians 3:28 that there is “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.  We are all equal in Gods eyes.

By the way, Mary Magdalene is considered to be the first woman priest in Christian.  This is only a part of the legacy of this great woman who fought hatred in the ancient times.  We are called to do  the  same.

But for God, all genders are equal, and we have to work to be improved this for the better common life. Jesus wants us before we go in heaven, to build  heaven in our hearts and our societies.

If we heal division and embrace diversity, and love all our neighbors we can improve all of our common and private lives.

So I pray through her intercession about these divisions, Its time for us to live as true Christians.  We are only one human race, and we are all equal. If the church does not preach this is a dead church.

I will never stop fighting for this people, that’s why I’m a Dominican.

St Mary Magdalene pray for us.