Thursday, July 22, 2004
(8:37 AM) | Adam Kotsko:
Memorial of Mary Magdalene
Today is the memorial of Mary Magdalene, first witness to the resurrection. I'm confused, though -- why does the Liturgy of Hours direct me, for parts not proper to this memorial, to look in the "common of holy women" rather than the "common of apostles"?Insofar as Mary Magdalene is associated with the "disciple whom Jesus loved" (if only through The Da Vinci Code, which I've not yet read) though not actually identical with him, and insofar as she was a prostitute, this is a day when the church commemorates Jesus' special bond with those whose sexuality is not channelled in socially sanctioned directions.
I encourage everyone to go to mass to celebrate -- if you're in the Kankakee area, St. Rose of Lima church (behind Provena hospital) has a noon mass.
