Homily Sixteenth Wednesday in Ordinary Time (Feast of Mary Magdalene)
Homily Sixteenth Wednesday in Ordinary Time (Feast of Mary Magdalene)
St. Mary Magdalene has been given a lot of attention lately. A few years ago, a novel was written called The DaVinci Code. The fictional work mused on the possibility that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had children and all of this was kept secret.
A lot of discussion took place at the time. Why were people so fascinated? Perhaps Jesus’ relationship with women and his celibacy have always been debated. Jesus and Mary Magdalene were obviously close, but other important aspects to her life are obscured by all the fictional speculation.
Mary is said to have been a prostitute, but there is nothing said in the Gospel about this. Yes, it says that demons were cast out of her at one place in scripture, but other than that, nothing is said about Mary’s character before she met Jesus.
What we do know is that Mary was the first to see the risen Jesus. She was the first to be sent from Jesus to inform the apostles of the resurrection. Mary was one of the only apostles that did not desert Jesus in his hour of need. She was there at the foot of the cross when Jesus died. She wept over his fate.
She was also the loyal apostle who kept vigil at his tomb. Her loyalty and courage should be inspirational to us all. Tradition has it, that she was an influential member of the church for many years after Jesus’ Ascension.
All these things should make us interested in Mary. We do not need to create a fictitious narrative to be challenged by the story of Mary Magdalene.
Reflection Questions:
1. Why are people enthralled by the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus? Is it because she was labeled a prostitute in Christian Tradition?
2. Did I every think about how women like Mary Magdalene held the church together at its beginnings? What does this say about a woman’s role in the church today?
Dear Parishioners,
I went down to a prayer service in Peoria today for Fr. Louis Tylka. He will be ordained Coadjutor Bishop of Peoria on Thursday. It was a nice service, but because of the COVID 19 situation we, as priests, were not able to interact with the Fr. Louie much.
I can only imagine how difficult this is for Fr. Tylka. He seems like a very pastoral man who would like to get to know his flock. Please pray for him as he takes up his new ministry. The ordination will be livestreamed tomorrow on the Diocesan website, www.cdop.org at 2 p.m. Please watch if you have time.
Remember that Friday we will begin a Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for healing in our country. We will pray and do penance for 9 consecutive Fridays.
May Our Lady and all the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark