And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.”

St. Mary Magdalen – pray for us.

St. Mary Magdalen Men (Women) of Prayer, tomorrow – July 22, is the feast day of our patron saint.  The Apostle to the Apostles, St. Mary Magdalen, a women possessed by many demons, gave her entire life (and fortune) to the Church after Jesus healed her.  St. Mary Magdalen never abandoned Christ after being healed.  She followed Him on His mission, she was there at the scourging, she was at the foot of the Cross and she was at the tomb to be the first to witness the Risen Christ.

When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
“Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.

A few years ago, St. Mary Magdalen Brentwood had the high honor of displaying for one day a first class relic of St. Mary Magdalen – it was her tibia.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to react to this, but it was one of the most moving religious experiences of my life.  We did a lot to prep for this event and the parish spent the entire day honoring this “apostle to the apostles”.  We celebrated Mass, we venerated her, Fr. Siefert heard confessions all day long.  It was well attended and very beautiful.  It is hard to put into words the feeling one gets gazing upon an actual relic that walked with Christ, broke bread with Christ, witnessed the persecution and execution of Christ and was the first to see Him risen.  Contemplating that was very emotional – heck just thinking back on that experience is still very emotional for me.

And so it is that I ask you all to pray for our parish as we celebrate this Feast this weekend.  Pray that we as a parish family will be able to honor the example set by our patron saint to give ourselves fully to our faith community, to follow Christ through the good times and the bad, to take the Word to all of the world just as St. Mary Magdalen did.

Jesus said to her,
“Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.'”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he told her.

St. Mary Magdalen, pray for us.

Do something great for our Lord today – take your family to Mass and celebrate the blessing that you’ve been given in your family.

God’s will, not mine, be done.

Be not afraid; just have faith.

Jesus, I trust in You.