Said Judas to Mary, “Now what will you do With your ointment so rich and so rare?”
“I’ll pour it all over the feet of the Lord, And I’ll wipe it away with my hair;’
she said, “I’ll wipe it away with my hair.”
“0 Mary, 0 Mary, 0 think of the poor. This ointment, it could have been sold;
And think of the blankets and think of the bread You could buy with the silver and gold;’
he said, “You could buy with the silver and gold.”
“Tomorrow, tomorrow, I’ll think of the poor; Tomorrow;’ she said, “not today;
For dearer than all of the poor in the world is my Love who is going away;’
she said, “My Love who is going away?’
Said Jesus to Mary, “Your love is so deep. Today, you may do as you will.
Tomorrow, you say, I am going away, But my body I leave with you still;’
He said, My body I leave with you still.”
We should reflect on Mary’s attitude and the great love she felt for Christ; for though the disciples had left the tomb, she remained. She was still seeking the one she had not found, and while she sought she wept; burning with the fire of love, she longed for him who she thought had been taken away. And so it happened that the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see him. For perseverance is essential to any good deed, as the voice of truth tell us: “Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.”
from a homily by Pope St. Gregory the Great
Collect for St Mary Magdalene’s day:
Almighty God, whose Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of mind and body and called her to be a witness to his resurrection: forgive us our sins, we beseech thee, and heal us by thy grace, that we may serve thee in the power of his risen life; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen
We are all called to be penitent souls, are we not? Did not our Lady and Mother many times in her apparitions-at Fatima and in others-ask us for penance?
I have much to repent of, that is for sure!
So how do we do this? Well there is the seeking of penitential practices in our lives such as fasting or not eating between meals or the little things that are sacrifices such as even kneeling when we would rather sit. But I have been told that we do not so much have to seek these things out in a special way. Sister Lucia said so as well. There are opportunities for sacrifice every day. Perhaps it is hot but we do not complain. Perhaps we do not like the way someone is driving (not speaking of our learning teens here) and we bite our tongue. Maybe it is putting up with an unjust criticism. Maybe it is going the extra mile at work. Or perhaps it is smiling when we are really rather grumpy inside.
I read that St. Therese had a little string of ‘sacrifice beads’ and she would keep count of the little sacrifices that came her way daily.
We wish to offer these small things back to God for our own sins and for the sake of the graces needed in this world.
How Our Lord loved the Magdalene! A sinner can become a pure soul and a saint and she is only one of many examples that we have.
As we approach the Solemnity of the Assumption, perhaps we can ask St. Mary Magdalene to help us become pure souls too and to not let the little sacrifices available to us each day get away.
And most of all, let us all partake in frequent confession–the Sacrament of Penance–that squashes that pride that always wants to be number one in us.
What do you think?
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Ave Maria!