July 16, 2023, 12:00 PM

The Feast of Mary Magdalene is July 22 and the Feast of St. Ann is July 26. Hopefully, we learn more about our Faith through them and our St. Ann Novena. Except for the mother of Jesus, few women are more honored in the Bible than Mary Magdalene. Yet, she could well be the patron of the slandered, since there has been a persistent legend in the Church that she is the unnamed sinful woman who anointed the feet of Jesus in Luke 7:36-50. Most Scripture scholars point out that there is no scriptural basis for confusing the two women. Mary “of Magdala,” was the one from whom Christ cast out “seven demons” (Luke 8:2). Writing in the New Catholic Commentary, Father Wilfrid J. Harrington says “seven demons” “does not mean that Mary had lived an immoral life, a conclusion reached only by means of a mistaken identification with the anonymous woman of Luke 7:36.” In the Jerome Biblical Commentary, Father Edward Mally agrees that she “is not…the same as the sinner of Luke 7:37, despite the later Western romantic tradition about her.” Mary Magdalene assisted Jesus and the Apostles and stood at the foot of the Cross. She is the first to know Resurrection joy and the first to share it. She is known as the “Apostle to the Apostles.” Mary Magdalene bears the Good News to the Good News bearers. This Resurrection joy belongs to the whole world so she is sent to the Apostles, who are then sent to the ends of the earth. That is our mission, too! Now you know!