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Vatican City, May 17, 2017 \/ 03:36 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- By calling Mary Magdalene by name after his resurrection, Jesus shows us just how personal his relationship with mankind is, Pope Francis said Wednesday, adding that after this intimate encounter, Mary then becomes an apostle of hope for the world, announcing the Lord\u2019s rising.<\/p>\n \u201cMary: the revolution of her life, the revolution destined to transform the existence of every man and woman, begins with a name that echoes in the garden of the empty tomb,\u201d the Pope said May 17.<\/p>\n \u201cHow beautiful to think of that the first appearance of the Risen One took place in such a personal way! That there is someone who knows us, who sees our suffering and delusion, who is moved by us, and who call us by name,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n After finally realizing who is speaking to her, Mary would like to run and embrace Jesus, but \u201che is by now oriented to the heavenly Father, while she is invited to bring the announcement to her brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo that woman, who is the first to encounter Jesus\u2026now has become an apostle of the new and greatest hope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims present in St. Peter\u2019s Square for his weekly general audience. He continued his catechesis on the virtue of Christian hope, focusing on the figure of Mary Magdalene at the tomb.<\/p>\n Mary was the first to arrive at the tomb, he said, noting that she is \u201cone of the disciples who accompanied Jesus from Galilee, putting herself at the service of the early Church.\u201d<\/p>\n The Gospel, he said, describes Mary \u201ca woman of easy enthusiasm,\u201d who after seeing the empty tomb runs back to the apostles disappointed by what she saw.<\/p>\n Her first hypothesis that Jesus\u2019 body had been taken was \u201cthe simplest she could formulate,\u201d Francis said, explaining that her first announcement \u201cis not that of the Resurrection, but of an unknown theft, perpetrated while all of Jerusalem slept.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, when she returned to the tomb a second time, her steps are \u201cslow and heavy,\u201d as she is now suffering not only from the death of Jesus, but also because of the inexplicable disappearance of his body.<\/p>\n However, while she is bent over his grave in tears, \u201cGod surprises her in the most unexpected way,\u201d the Pope said, noting how the Gospel underlines \u201chow persistent her blindness is,\u201d since she not only didn\u2019t notice the presence of two angels questioning her, but neither does she recognize Jesus, mistaking him for the gardener.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead, she discovers the most shocking event in human history when finally he calls her by name,\u201d Pope Francis said, adding that this personal interest in humanity is something \u201cthat we find carved in many pages of the Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAround Jesus there are many people who look for God; but the most marvelous reality is that, long before, there is above all God who is concerned about our lives, who wants to uplift, and to do this calls us by name, recognizing the personal face of each person,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Pope stressed that every person has a story of love that God writes for them on earth, calling each one by name.<\/p>\n \u201cHe knows us by name, he watches over us, he waits for us, he forgives us, he is patient with us. True or not true?\u201d Francis said, saying \u201ceach one of us has this experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Pointing to the joy Mary felt after discovering Jesus had indeed risen from the dead, the Pope said it\u2019s a happiness that isn\u2019t given in small drops, but is rather \u201ca waterfall\u201d that envelops our entire lives.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Christian existence is not woven on fluffy happiness, but on waves that engulf everyone,\u201d he said, and encouraged the crowd to place themselves in the Gospel scene, \u201cwith the bags of disappointments and defeats that each one carries in their heart.\u201d<\/p>\n In that instant, he said, \u201cthere is a God close to us who calls us by name and says: \u2018Rise, cease your tears, because I have come to free you!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Jesus, he said, is not someone who adapts to the world, tolerating the death, sadness, hatred and the moral destruction of people. Rather, \u201cour God is not inert, but dreams of the transformation of the world, and he realized it in the mystery of the Resurrection,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Turning to Mary Magdalene, Francis said her example is one of hope, and that her intercession helps us to live the experience of the Resurrection, because \u201cat the time of tears and abandonment, she hears the Risen Jesus who calls us by name, and with a heart full of joy goes to announce: I have seen the Lord!\u201d<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time the Pope has drawn attention to the importance of Mary Magdalene. Just last year, in June 2016, Francis signed a decree<\/a> bumping the liturgical celebration honoring the Saint from a memorial to a feast, putting her on par with the apostles.<\/p>\n On the Church\u2019s liturgical calendar, saints are honored with either a \u201cmemorial\u201d a \u201cfeast,\u201d or a \u201csolemnity.\u201d Solemnities rank the highest, with feasts coming in second and memorials in third.<\/p>\n While there are 15 other memorials on Mary Magdalene\u2019s July 22 feast, hers was the only obligatory one to celebrate. After being elevated to the level of a feast, the celebration bears a more significant weight.<\/p>\n