Mary Mary Mary

I first heard of Mary Magdalene about sixty years ago.

Maybe here at Mass, like today.

Or maybe reading Bible stories with Sister Mary Joseph in my first-grade class.

The main point I remember is that Mary Magdalene was a notorious sinner.

But she repented; she washed Jesus's feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.

And Jesus forgave her sins and took her as a friend and close disciple.

I also learned that she was a loyal and brave disciple.

One of the very few to stand by him at the cross.

And, as we heard today, the first to see him after his resurrection.

First impressions stick.

And when I think of Mary Magdalene all those images still come to mind.

I only recently realized that I should adjust that image.

I wasn't paying attention in 1969 when things changed.

The Church officially dropped its emphasis on Mary Magdalene's ill-repute.

Certainly, like everyone else, she had been a sinner.

But she probably wasn't that notorious sinner.

That prostitute who repented at Jesus' feet.

There had been some confusion due to the many Mary's in the Gospels.

There's Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mary the wife of Clopas.

The Gospels also speak of a Mary who is the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

Early scholars believed that she was in fact the same person as Mary Magdalene.

They saw clues that this Mary was also the unnamed sinner who anointed Jesus' feet.

But other scholars disagreed and believed these were three different women.

The Eastern Church followed the three-different-women conclusion.

And the Western Church followed the all-the-same-Mary conclusion.

For fourteen hundred years.

But then in 1969, the Church revised the Mass for Mary Magdalene's feast.

It dropped the Mass's references to Martha's sister Mary.

And noted that she should be commemorated along with Martha on a different day.

It also dropped the references to the notorious sinner who anointed Jesus's feet.

And noted that Mary Magdalene had formerly been mistakenly identified with her.

No doubt, some scholars still favor the all-the-same-Mary analysis.

But for now, that's not the official Church position.

So who cares? Do their exact identities really matter?

Probably not.

We like to get all the facts straight and understand as much of the background as we can.

But not all details are critical to the lessons of the Gospel.

Those same lessons remain, whether demonstrated by one holy woman or three.

But the shifted position does give us an interesting example of Scriptural analysis.

It might encourage us to our own deeper reading and contemplation and analysis.

It's a reminder that we always have more to learn and further to grow.

That there's room in the Church for questions, differences and debate.

And for change—at least on non-dogmatic issues.

It shows that when the Church thinks it's made a mistake, it admits it and corrects it.

There's a lesson we can draw from the Church's position on Mary Magdalene.
Let's be always open to recognizing, admitting and correcting our mistakes.

Feast of Mary Magdalene
Tuesday, 16th Week of  Ordinary Time

Jn 20:1-2,11-18         Read this Scripture @usccb.org