July 22, 2011
Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene
By Melanie Rigney
"Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you." (Exodus 20:12)
Lord, you have the words of everlasting life. (John 6:68)
(Mary Magdalene) 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. 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. (John 20:14-18)
Piety
Well, I started out a-travelin’ for the Lord many years ago/I had a lot of heartaches, met a lot of grief and woe/but when I would stumble, then I would humble down/and I can say thank the Lord I wouldn’t take nothin’ for my journey now. (“Wouldn’t Take Nothin’ for My Journey Now” as performed by the Happy Goodmans)
Study
When you read this, I’ll be in my hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I never much cared for Sioux Falls as a kid; growing up on the poor side of town with a demanding, competitive, alcoholic father who descended into a spiral of ever-increasing paranoia will do that to you.
Sioux Falls also was the place that I shook the dust of the Catholic Church off my sandals back in 1972. I took it as a sign God didn’t care about me one evening when I couldn’t get into St. Joseph’s Cathedral, my home parish, to pray about a failed teenage romance. My parents weren’t church-goers, and no one ever asked me why I quit going to Mass. Fast-forward eighteen years, and perhaps you can appreciate my surprise that when my mother died, the cathedral community put on a nice luncheon after her funeral, even though she hadn’t been to church for decades. A few dozen people beyond our family even turned out for the Mass to pray for her. I read the Twenty-third Psalm at the funeral, palms sweaty at being on the other side of the altar for the first time in my life.
It took a lot of God—and, let’s be honest, losing some battles with Satan and some bad things too—over the ensuing fifteen years for me to be brave enough to call myself a Catholic again. It took a lot of love and faith and reconciliation to understand that God’s wherever I need Him on this journey we call life.
This week, that journey takes me back to Sioux Falls. The cathedral is reopening next Monday after two painstaking years of renovations. I’ve provided some guidance with publications to commemorate the event and the dedication of the altar. It’ll be the first time since Mom’s funeral in 1990 that I’ve attended a Mass at St. Joseph’s. And, as the Happy Goodmans sang, I wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now.
Action
Where have you seen the Lord in the past week? Go deep at your group reunion or other faith-sharing gathering this week.
