I just went from place to place -- no real place to belong. Many of you understand .... you do not think you "belong" anywhere.

In the midst of all these men came someone quite different. I was in a crowd one day in the city of Nazareth. When I walked down the street people laughed. One day I ran into Jesus of Nazareth. I was flirting with someone and I was not looking. We bumped into each other. Some of His friends told me to get back. They said "cheap, cheap." Get away!

It angered me. Someone pushed me. I think his name was Peter. I fell in the dirt. This man of Nazareth came over, reached His hand into mine and pulled me up. He started dusting off my clothes -- then He spoke. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," I replied.

"My name is Jesus."

I knew immediately he must want me. All the men (or many of them) would give me their names when they wanted my body, so I said to Him "two denarii."

He said, "Oh, no. I don't want to use you. I care about you. I want to know your name."

I was afraid at first, for to know someone's name was so unusual, especially someone like me. I told Him I was Mary. "That is a beautiful name," He replied. "My mother's name is Mary."

This was all too much. I cried and started running away. He called my name, "Mary, Mary, stop. You are special." With that, I stopped. I looked at Him and His eyes looked all through me. The story got around that He called seven demons out of me.

Maybe so. I know demons. Guilt, fear, rejection, deceit, shame, loneliness and anger. But the love I saw in His eyes consumed them, and me as well. When I heard my name, things changed. My life changed.

From that day on I followed Him. I had heard talk of love but now I knew love. The kind of love that makes one whole. I was never the same. I became a follower of Jesus.

This Jesus had new ideas and they were different from all I had ever heard. He said "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for their's is the Kingdom of Heaven; Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth; Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

He said we are light and salt. Somehow I felt He was holding a mirror and I was seeing all I could become. He said He came to call the sinners and I know that surely meant me.

It all was so positive! So positive! So new! I was so thankful to be His friend. We often talked and some people thought (people who wrote Jesus Christ Superstar) that I did not know how to love Him, but that is not all true. I felt a new sense of love different from anything I had ever known. I really cared for Him. Things felt so natural when we talked. Things that had been ugly were pure and good.

Then it all changed. He took the disciples to an Upper Room. They had supper. All of us were near. He talked about someone betraying Him. Then, Judas left. Afterwards, Jesus took a bowl and a towel and began to wash people's feet. He told us to wash others' feet. Imagine feet that smell and are dusty. It was a humbling experience. One feels so unworthy.