Sought

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene
July 22, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072224.cfm

The Bride says:
On my bed at night I sought him
whom my heart loves–
I sought him but I did not find him.
I will rise then and go about the city;
in the streets and crossings I will seek
Him whom my heart loves.
I sought him but I did not find him.
The watchmen came upon me,
as they made their rounds of the city:
Have you seen him whom my heart loves?
I had hardly left them
when I found him whom my heart loves.
Song of Songs 3:1-48

This exquisite poem from the Song of Songs captures the spirit of Mary Magdalen who, throughout her life, sought a deep and transformative relationship with God.

When she anointed his feet, when she relentlessly sought him at the tomb, Mary longed for the Presence of Jesus. When she found Him whom she had sought, this premier Apostle of the Resurrection preached the first Easter news to her companions.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We honor Mary Magdalen, so long mischaracterized in Church history. We ask to be inspired by her deep love of Jesus and resolute desire to be united with him.

Poetry: The Magdalen, a Garden, and This – Kathleen O’Toole

She who is known by myth and association
as sinful, penitent, voluptuous perhaps…
but faithful to the last and then beyond.

A disciple for sure, confused often with Mary,
sister of Lazarus, or the woman caught
in adultery, or she who angered the men

by anointing Jesus with expensive oils.
She was the one from whom he cast out seven
demons-she’s named in that account.

Strip all else away and we know only
that she was grateful, that she found her way
to the cross, and that she returned

to the tomb, to the garden nearby, and there,
weeping at her loss, was recognized,
became known in the tender invocation

of her name. Mary: breathed by one
whom she mistook for the gardener, he
who in an instant brought her back to herself-

gave her in two syllables a life beloved,
gave me the only sure thing I’ll believe
of heaven, that if it be, it will consist

in this: the one unmistakable
rendering of your name.