Sainthood Sunday: St. Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene has had a rough go of it in the last 1500 years. For one thing, we don't know how big a role she had in the Gospels. We know that she is mentioned as being one of the followers of Christ and that seven demons were driven out of her. Specifically that is all that we have.

In the fifth century, it was hypothesized that Mary Magdalene was the prostitute that washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and dried them with her hair. Her exorcism was tied to that dinner at Simon the Pharisee's house and she followed him ever since. This was reinforced throughout the centuries and really brought home by Anne Bancroft in "Jesus of Nazareth." Enough history.

I have an opinion that no one probably subscribes to, and that is the Mary from Bethany, sister to Martha and Lazarus, is the same Mary of Magdala who was a prostitute. She washed Jesus twice. Once with oil and once with her tears. She and her siblings moved to Bethany from Magdala because of her history and after her conversion they set up shop as far away as possible, but close to the Temple and Jerusalem. This is why they were friends of Jesus and why he stayed there so often. They were all Galileans.

I can't imagine the struggle that Mary had in overcoming her previous life, assuming she was the prostitute in the Bible. To add to that the fact that she had seven demons in her (which also seems to be the number for perfection, meaning that either she had perfect demons or her possession was total), and you have a person with a lot of baggage to overcome after her conversion.

No matter what Christ told her about the forgiveness of sin, other people would never look at her the same way that they looked at the other followers of Christ. Sure there were tax collectors and other prostitutes, but Mary Magdalene had a lot to overcome. To outsiders, this must be some type of game the local girl was playing in order to try to "latch on" to some new prospective customers. The jaded response of others doesn't seem to have dampened her resolve.

To break the social norm and plunge into the house of a Pharisee to approach the guest of honor, even if Simon did not wash his feet, would take a great deal of courage. Could we do the same, overcoming our own fear of social embarassment in order to thank Christ for our own forgiveness?

It always occurs to me during the "Glory to God" portion of the Mass. Here we have just asked for the forgiveness of God and then we launch into the words of the angels at the birth of Christ. Most times when you look around the Church you don't hear the joy of the angels but the monotone of the bored.

We are missing the point.

We are supposed to be imitating Mary at that point and rushing to the feet of Christ and singing, yelling, responding with all of our hearts, "Glory to God in highest!" He has forgiven us! Our sins are washed away!

I do that too many times. I hit a certain part of the Mass and I will drift, go on auto pilot. I think of lineup changes in fantasy football or I think about things I have to do. When I look up I remember that I am in the presence of the Creator and I have missed a good chunk of prayer by not getting involved.

I lack the passion of Mary.

Mary seemed to consistently be clinging to Christ. From the time of the washing of the feet, to the anointing with oil, to the contemplating of Christ while Martha worked, to the futile embrace of the resurrected Christ in the garden, only to be told "not to cling" to Him.

Mary's passion to be loved by Christ, to thank Him for her forgiveness, for her new life, is something that we need to imitate in a very real way. Do we run to Christ and thank him at every moment for the sacrifice that was made on our behalf?

Do we cling to Him?

Do we give everything to Him, allowing him to drive out our own demons?

Even if St. Mary Magdalene was not everything that our tradition ascribes to her, as a saint we should yearn to imitate her conversion. We should yearn to glorify God.