MARY  MAGDALENE: 

PATRON  SAINT OF THOSE WHO ARE CONSTANTLY THERE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily on July 22^nd, is “Mary Magdalene: Patron Saint of Those Who Are Constantly There.”

If you know your gospels, you know that Mary Magdalene’s name shows up in the 4 gospels more than most of the apostles.

In today’s gospel [John 20:1-2, 11-18], there she is early in the morning - on the first day of the week.

It’s the first day of a new era in history. It’s the first moment of a blessed assurance:  There is life after death! There is resurrection!

So that’s why I named Mary Magdalene as the Patron Saint of someone who is constantly there.

She walked the walk - she got her feet to Calvary - to Golgotha - and to the Tomb - and to the apostles to announce that the stone had been removed from the tomb!

TWO IMAGES - JESUS’ FEET

There are two images of Mary Magdalene that I liked when I saw them in pictures.

Both have to do with Jesus’ feet.  The first is that of Mary Magdalene washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. 

The second is that of Mary kissing his feet while under the cross. That image is assumed - but that never stopped painters during the past 20 centuries. [1]

MARY MAGDALENE OFTEN THERE

If you visit the big frame painting sections of big museums - the high ceiling rooms that have classic religious pictures - you’ll often find paintings of Mary Magdalene.

You’ll find her story in various novels - like The Da Vinci Code - as well as the musical plays Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar.

And I might as well mention here that there is a Gnostic Gospel of Mary Magdalen. I say that because at various times I’ve heard people angry at the Church or Catholic Education because they never told folks that there were other gospels besides Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

So I’m mentioning that here in this homily as an aside. Yes there is a Gnostic Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

If you fiddle with the Internet and like to Google stuff, Google The Gospel of Mary Magdalen.[2]

Like the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, it’s worth reading to see how it uses the 4 gospels.

It’s not too long….

The Gnostics were Christian break off groups that liked to have an edge over other groups - providing special teachings that they know and others don’t. The history of the church has these kinds of books down through the centuries. They provide so called “revelations” by visionaries - that the Church disclaims at times - but not always.[3]

It’s good to see how these Gnostic Gospels work - trying to get across teachings about Jesus - to folks in various Christian sects - or cults - which were always there on the edges or fringes of Christianity.

I noticed while Googling “The Gospel of Mary Magdalen” that in 1896 in Akhmim, Upper Egypt, someone came up with the Gnostic Gospel of Mary Magdalene. It was bought by a German, Carl Reinhardt in Cairo and brought to Germany. Because of 2 wars and lots of other reasons, it didn’t get published. In the meanwhile in 1945 they found 2 copies of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene in the Nag Hammadi digs in Egypt. Parts are missing in these finds - but using the texts they have they have stitched together a decent copy of her Gospel for translations into English - or whatever language.

IN PRAISE OF CERTAIN PEOPLE: THOSE WHO SHOW UP

The title of my homily is, “Mary Magdalene: Patron Saint of Those Who Are Constantly There.”

Mary Magdalene showed up.

So too all those grandmothers and grandfathers, moms and dads, readers, Eucharistic ministers, etc. who show up to serve. They are our constants.

Business people know their workers - the ones who come in early and leave late. Those who show up when there is an emergency.

CONCLUSION

St. Mary Magdalene pray for us to have this gift of showing up and being there for others. Amen.

NOTES

[1] This picture is a detail of Mary Kissing the Feet of the Crucified Jesus, an Early 14th Century painting in the Tolentino  Basilica di San Nicola Cappelone. Here is the full picture:

[2] Here's a copy of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene that you can get on line by just typing into a search engine The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene
[The Gospel of Mary]

Chapter 4

(Pages 1 to 6 of the manuscript, containing chapters 1 - 3, are lost.  The extant text starts on page 7...)

. . . Will matter then be destroyed or not?

22) The Savior said, All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots.

23) For the nature of matter is resolved into the roots of its own nature alone.

24) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

25) Peter said to him, Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this also: What is the sin of the world?

26) The Savior said There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin.

27) That is why the Good came into your midst, to the essence of every nature in order to restore it to its root.

28) Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick and die, for you are deprived of the one who can heal you.

29) He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.

30) Matter gave birth to a passion that has no equal, which proceeded from something contrary to nature. Then there arises a disturbance in its whole body.

31) That is why I said to you, Be of good courage, and if you are discouraged be encouraged in the presence of the different forms of nature.

32) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

33) When the Blessed One had said this, He greeted them all,saying, Peace be with you. Receive my peace unto yourselves.

34) Beware that no one lead you astray saying Lo here or lo there! For the Son of Man is within you.

35) Follow after Him!

36) Those who seek Him will find Him.

37) Go then and preach the gospel of the Kingdom.

38) Do not lay down any rules beyond what I appointed you, and do not give a law like the lawgiver lest you be constrained by it.

39) When He said this He departed.

Chapter 5

1) But they were grieved. They wept greatly, saying, How shall we go to the Gentiles and preach the gospel of the Kingdom of the Son of Man? If they did not spare Him, how will they spare us?

2) Then Mary stood up, greeted them all, and said to her brethren, Do not weep and do not grieve nor be irresolute, for His grace will be entirely with you and will protect you.

3) But rather, let us praise His greatness, for He has prepared us and made us into Men.

4) When Mary said this, she turned their hearts to the Good, and they began to discuss the words of the Savior.

5) Peter said to Mary, Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of woman.

6) Tell us the words of the Savior which you remember which you know, but we do not, nor have we heard them.

7) Mary answered and said, What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you.

8) And she began to speak to them these words: I, she said, I saw the Lord in a vision and I said to Him, Lord I saw you today in a vision. He answered and said to me,

9) Blessed are you that you did not waver at the sight of Me. For where the mind is there is the treasure.

10) I said to Him, Lord, how does he who sees the vision see it, through the soul or through the spirit?

11) The Savior answered and said, He does not see through the soul nor through the spirit, but the mind that is between the two that is what sees the vision and it is [...]

(pages 11 - 14 are missing from the manuscript)

Chapter 8:

. . . it.

10) And desire said, I did not see you descending, but now I see you ascending. Why do you lie since you belong to me?

11) The soul answered and said, I saw you. You did not see me nor recognize me. I served you as a garment and you did not know me.

12) When it said this, it (the soul) went away rejoicing greatly.

13) Again it came to the third power, which is called ignorance.

14) The power questioned the soul, saying, Where are you going? In wickedness are you bound. But you are bound; do not judge!

15) And the soul said, Why do you judge me, although I have not judged?

16) I was bound, though I have not bound.

17) I was not recognized. But I have recognized that the All is being dissolved, both the earthly things and the heavenly.

18) When the soul had overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power, which took seven forms.

19) The first form is darkness, the second desire, the third ignorance, the fourth is the excitement of death, the fifth is the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is the foolish wisdom of flesh, the seventh is the wrathful wisdom. These are the seven powers of wrath.

20) They asked the soul, Whence do you come slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?

21) The soul answered and said, What binds me has been slain, and what turns me about has been overcome,

22) and my desire has been ended, and ignorance has died.

23) In a aeon I was released from a world, and in a Type from a type, and from the fetter of oblivion which is transient.

24) From this time on will I attain to the rest of the time, of the season, of the aeon, in silence.

Chapter 9

1) When Mary had said this, she fell silent, since it was to this point that the Savior had spoken with her.

2) But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, Say what you wish to say about what she has said. I at least do not believe that the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings are strange ideas.

3) Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things.

4) He questioned them about the Savior: Did He really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?

5) Then Mary wept and said to Peter, My brother Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I have thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?

6) Levi answered and said to Peter, Peter you have always been hot tempered.

7) Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries.

8) But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well.

9) That is why He loved her more than us. Rather let us be ashamed and put on the perfect Man, and separate as He commanded us and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or other law beyond what the Savior said.

10) And when they heard this they began to go forth to proclaim and to preach.

[3] In this clustering I’m very subjective. It would upset folks if I mentioned the names of these books in public. I consider these books  to have “strange stuff”.  I spot them left on church window sills, etc. Here are some of the ones that are on my "strange" listing.

·       The Poem of the Man God by Maria Valtorta [This book was on the Index of Forbidden Books when we had an Index. Cardinal Ratzinger - when in charge of all this - stated clearly this book is rejected by the Catholic Church.

·       The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul [Was banned for 20 years]  I know she was canonized a Saint.

·       Mary of Agreda’s book, Mystical City [Was on the Index of Condemned books till the Index was ended in 1966].

·       Father Stefano Gobbi’s book, The Marian Movement of Priests. [Never officially accepted or rejected by the Church.] 

·       Various statements about what Mary was saying by the so called visionaries of Medjugorje. I don't think this stuff is authentic and that Mary talks like this. Nor do I believe this is how God works.