July 22, 2010

Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene

Reading 1

This word of the LORD came to me:
Go, cry out this message for Jerusalem to hear!

I remember the devotion of your youth,
how you loved me as a bride,
Following me in the desert,
in a land unsown.
Sacred to the LORD was Israel,
the first fruits of his harvest;
Should any presume to partake of them,
evil would befall them, says the LORD.

When I brought you into the garden land
to eat its goodly fruits,
You entered and defiled my land,
you made my heritage loathsome.
The priests asked not,
"Where is the LORD?"
Those who dealt with the law knew me not:
the shepherds rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after useless idols.

Be amazed at this, O heavens,
and shudder with sheer horror, says the LORD.
Two evils have my people done:
they have forsaken me, the source of living waters;
They have dug themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that hold no water.

Ps 36:6-7ab, 8-9, 10-11

Responsorial Psalm

R. (10a) With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
O LORD, your mercy reaches to heaven;
your faithfulness, to the clouds.
Your justice is like the mountains of God;
your judgments, like the mighty deep.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
How precious is your mercy, O God!
The children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They have their fill of the prime gifts of your house;
from your delightful stream you give them to drink.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
For with you is the fountain of life,
and in your light we see light.
Keep up your mercy toward your friends,
your just defense of the upright of heart.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.

Jn 20:1-2, 11-18

Gospel

On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
"They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don't know where they put him."

Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb

and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
She said to them, "They have taken my Lord,
and I don't know where they laid him."
When she had said this, she 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.

Rosary for the Bishops Campaign celebrates six months of prayer, global expansion

Pray a Rosary each day for our nation.

Pray the Rosary

1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2. The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

3. The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)

5. Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.

End with the Hail Holy Queen:

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Final step -- The Sign of the Cross

The Mysteries of the Rosary

By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary.
The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.

The Luminous Mysteries or Mysteries of Light
(Thursdays) see Rosarium Virginis Mariae
1. Jesus' Baptism in the Jordan (II Corinthians 5:21, Matthew 3:17 and parallels) [Spiritual fruit - Gratitude for the gift of Faith]
2. Jesus' self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana (John 2:1- 12) [Spiritual fruit - Fidelity]
3. Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with His call to conversion (Mark 1:15, Mark 2:3-13; Luke 7:47- 48, John 20:22-23) [Spiritual fruit - Desire for Holiness]
4. Jesus' Transfiguration (Luke 9:35 and parallels) [Spiritual fruit - Spiritual Courage]
5. Jesus' institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery. (Luke 24:13-35 and parallels, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25) [Spiritual fruit - Love of our Eucharistic Lord]

July Devotion: The Precious Blood

July Devotion: The Precious Blood

Like the Sacred Wounds of Jesus, His Precious Blood deserves special honor because of its close relation to the Sacred Passion. That honor was given to it from the beginning by the Apostles who praised its redeeming power. (Rom. 5:9 "we are justified by His blood"; Heb. 13:12 "and so Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people by His blood, suffered outside the gate"; 1 John 1:7 "and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.")

The Church has always held devotion to the Precious Blood in high esteem. We continue to recognize and publicly acknowledge the profound indebtedness of the whole human race to Christ, Priest and Victim.

Standing at the foot of the cross, we see Jesus' head, hands, feet, and side pouring out streams of precious blood. It is precious because it:

· Redeems us and atones for our sins. Through His precious blood we are reconciled to God, made one with Him. Death ceases to be death and heaven's gates are opened to us.

· Cleanses us from all sin.

· Preserves us and keeps us safe from the grasp of evil. When the Father sees us washed in the Blood of the Lamb we are spared.

· Comforts us. It is the constant reminder that Jesus - true God and true man suffered and died to save us and to open heaven to us because He loves us.

· Sanctifies us. The same blood that justifies by taking away sin, continues to work within us. Its action gives us the grace to continue on the path toward the Kingdom of God. It assists us in achieving our new nature, leading us onward in subduing sin and in following the commands of God.

Jesus shed His precious blood seven times during His life on earth. They events were:

· Jesus shed His Blood in the Circumcision

· Jesus shed His Blood whilst praying in the Garden of Olives

· Jesus shed His Blood in the scourging

· Jesus shed His Blood in the crowning with thorns

· Jesus shed His Blood while carrying His cross

· Jesus shed His Blood in the crucifixion

· Jesus shed His Blood and water when His side was pierced

The Power of the Precious Blood

"I adore You, O Precious Blood of Jesus, flower of creation, fruit of virginity, ineffable instrument of the Holy Spirit, and I rejoice at the thought that You came from the drop of virginal blood on which eternal Love impressed its movement; You were assumed by the Word and deified in His person. I am overcome with emotion when I think of Your passing from the Blessed Virgin's heart into the heart of the Word, and, being vivified by the breath of the Divinity, becoming adorable because You became the Blood of God." (St. Albert the Great)

At their recent meeting, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had continuous Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for "healing and peace." They encouraged parishes and communities to have ongoing Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In these dark months of woundedness, pain and violence we need to turn to the Precious Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist, for healing, peace, and light.

"What power we have in the Precious Blood of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist! He is there to protect us, to be our refuge and our redemption. (In Exodus 12, God told Moses to have His chosen people mark their door posts with the blood of an unblemished lamb, during the first Passover. Those who did this were spared when the Angel of the death passed by). This is why Archbishop Sheen said that we must call down the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. For, he warned, when we stop calling down the Blood of the Lamb, we start calling down the blood of each other." (From our book Bread of Life)

"And the Lamb on the throne will shepherd them. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water" (Rev 7:17).

"In the tumultuous events of our time, it is important to look to the Eucharist: it must be at the heart of the life of priests and consecrated people; the light and strength of spouses in putting into practice their commitment to fidelity, chastity and the apostolate; the ideal in education and in training children, adolescents and young people; the comfort and support of those who are troubled, of the sick and all who are weeping in the Gethsemane of life." (Pope John Paul II)

Precious Blood of Jesus, save us!

"The only time our Lord asked the Apostles for anything was the night when He went into His agony. But as often in the history of the church since that time, evil was awake, but the disciples were asleep. That is why there came out of His anguished and lonely Heart a sigh: 'Could you not watch one hour with Me?'" (Mt 26:40). Not for an hour of activity did he plead, but for an hour of friendship (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen).

St. Maria Goretti, Patroness of Youth & Children of Mary, Feast-July 6 St. Maria of Italy (1890-1902), couldn't wait to make her First Communion. She wanted to receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist so that she could become more beautiful and pure like Him; she wanted Him to live in her, close to her heart. After she received Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament for the first time, she stayed in Church for a long time after Mass to talk to Him. Maria's family lived with and worked for a farmer. His son Alessandro kept trying to make Maria sin against purity. One day, when everyone else was working, Alessandro grabbed Maria and tried to make her sin. Maria kept crying out for him to stop, and each time she did, he stabbed her. Courageously, Maria resisted him and was stabbed fourteen times. St. Maria died the next day.

"Look at Maria Goretti.... Like her, be capable of defending your purity of heart and body. Be committed to the struggle against evil and sin. Always esteem and love, purity and virginity." (Pope John Paul II, 1990)

A Prayer for Priests

O my God, help those priests who are faithful to remain faithful; to those who are falling, stretch forth Your Divine Hand that they may grasp it as their support. In the great ocean of Your mercy, lift those poor unfortunate ones who have fallen, that being engulfed therein they may receive the grace to return to Your Great Loving Heart. Amen. Precious Blood of Jesus, protect them!A

menHe

"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you" (Jn 6:53).

The Eucharist is the fruit of our Lords Passion. Jesus gave up His Body on the cross so that He may give you His Body in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus poured out His very last drop of Blood on the cross so that He may fill you with His Divine Love each time that you receive Him in Holy Communion and visit Him in Eucharistic Adoration!

"The Eucharist, in the Mass and outside of the Mass, is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and is therefore deserving of the worship that is given to the living God, and to Him alone" (Pope John Paul II, September 29, 1979, Phoenix Park, Ireland)

"The bread and wine, fruit of human hands, transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit into the body and blood of Christ, become a pledge of the 'new heaven and new earth,' announced by the Church in her daily mission." "In Christ, whom we adore present in the mystery of the Eucharist, the father uttered his final word with regard to humanity and human history." "To live the Eucharist, it is necessary, as well, to spend much time in adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament, something which I myself experience every day drawing from it strength, consolation and assistance." "How could the Church fulfill her vocation without cultivating a constant relationship with the Eucharist, without nourishing herself with this food which sanctifies, without founding her missionary activity on this indispensable support?" "To evangelize the world there is need of apostles who are 'experts' in the celebration, adoration and contemplation of the Eucharist" (Pope John Paul II, World Mission Message 2004).

The Power of the Precious Blood of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist

"The Precious Blood belongs in an especial manner to men. Much more, therefore, does God invite them to come to its heavenly baths, and receive therein, not only the cleansing of their souls, but the power of a new and amazing life. Every doctrine in theology is a call to the Precious Blood. Every ceremony in the Church tells of it . . . . Every supernatural act is a growth of it. Everything that is holy on earth is either a leaf, bud, blossom or fruit of the Blood of Jesus. To its fountains God calls the sinner, that he may be lightened of his burdens. There is no remission of him in anything else. Only there is his lost sonship to be found. The saints are no less called by God to these invigorating streams. It is out of the Precious Blood that men draw martyrdoms, vocations, celebacies, austerities, heroic charities, and all the magnificent graces of high sanctity. The secret nourishment of prayer is from those fountains" (Father Faber, The Precious Blood).

Devotion to the Drops of Blood Lost by our Lord Jesus Christ on His Way to Calvary (Prayer/Devotion)

Chaplet of the Most Precious Blood
The Traditional Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Catholic Caucus)
Devotion to the Precious Blood
DOCTRINE OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,And More on the Precious Blood
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
NOTHING IS MORE POTENT AGAINST EVIL THAN PLEADING THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST
FORMER PENTECOSTAL RELATES MIRACLE THAT OCCURRED WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
St.Gaspar:Founder of the Society of the Precious Blood[AKA The Hammer of Freemasons]

Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Most Precious Blood of Jesus
July is traditionally associated with the Precious Blood of Our Lord. It may be customary to celebrate the votive Mass of the Precious Blood on July 1.

The extraordinary importance of the saving Blood of Christ has ensured a central place for its memorial in the celebration of this cultic mystery: at the centre of the Eucharistic assembly, in which the Church raises up to God in thanksgiving "the cup of blessing" (1 Cor 10, 16; cf Ps 115-116, 13) and offers it to the faithful as a "real communion with the Blood of Christ" (1 Cor 10, 16); and throughout the Liturgical Year. The Church celebrates the saving Blood of Christ not only on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, but also on many other occasions, such that the cultic remembrance of the Blood of our redemption (cf 1 Pt 1, 18) pervades the entire Liturgical Year. Hence, at Vespers during Christmastide, the Church, addressing Christ, sings: "Nos quoque, qui sancto tuo redempti sumus sanguine, ob diem natalis tui hymnum novum concinimus." In the Paschal Triduum, the redemptive significance and efficacy of the Blood of Christ is continuously recalled in adoration. During the adoration of the Cross on Good Friday the Church sings the hymn: "Mite corpus perforatur, sanguis unde profluit; terra, pontus, astra, mundus quo lavanturflumine", and again on Easter Sunday, "Cuius corpus sanctissimum in ara crucis torridum, sed et cruorem roesum gustando, Deo vivimus (194).

From: Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13 (USA Alternate)

When Israel was devout, it had nothing to fear

[1] The word of the Lord came to me, saying, [2] “Go and proclaim in the
hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord,

I remember the devotion of your youth,
your love as a bride.
how you followed me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
[3] Israel was holy to the Lord,
the first fruits of his harvest.
All who ate of it became guilty;
evil came upon them, says the Lord.”

[7] And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in you defiled my land,
and made my heritage an abomination.
[8] The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who handle the law did not know me;
the rulers transgressed against me;
the prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after things that do not profit.

[12] Be appalled. O heavens, at this,
be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord,
[13] for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns,
that can hold no water.

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Commentary:

2:1-25:38. Most of the oracles are in verse in this part of the book, but there are
some prose passages. It is possible that the scroll containing the earliest ora-
cles (which was burnt in 605 by order of King Jehoiakim: cf. 36:2l-23) was made
up largely of the poems found in this part (2:1-25:38). They would have been ar-
ranged in some sort of thematic order with an eye, too, on chronology.

In the first ten chapters, the oracles turn on the two great themes of the two in-
troductory visions. Firstly, in connexion with the vision of the root of almond (1:
11-12), we get a summary of the sins that the prophet has noticed in his role
as watchman: Israel and Judah have forsaken the Lord; therefore they must be
chastised. God has been faithful, but the people have rejected him; this wrong
must be righted without delay—unless there is a genuine change of heart (2:1-4:
4). Secondly, in connexion with the vision of the boiling pot facing away from the
north (1:13-19), we get oracles threatening destruction from that quarter (4:5-10:
25).

From chapter 11 on, prose passages appear with greater frequency, and Jere-
miah’s symbolic actions begin to have a higher profile. The prophet has personal
experience of suffering, and his cries for help epitomize the way the people feel
when they are struck down by misfortune in punishment for their sins (11:1-20:
18). This part of the book ends with a severe indictment of those who ought to
have given leadership but failed to do so (21:1-25:38).

All of this first part of the book is a severe warning to the people of Jerusalem
and the entire kingdom of Judah. Even so, divine mercy can still be discerned:
there is a prospect of forgiveness and salvation.

2:1-4:4. The oracles contained in this section were spoken early in Jeremiah’s mi-
nistry, during the reign of Josiah, and possibly before that king set in train his re-
ligious reform (for nowhere does Jeremiah refer to it). This means that they would
date from the period 627-622 BC. The difference is clearly drawn (3:6-11) between
Israel, the Northern kingdom, whose capital was Samaria, and which had fallen to
Assyria in 722, and Judah, the Southern kingdom, whose capital was Jerusalem.
Assyria had been in control of Israel for some one hundred years, but now it was
in decline; and Josiah, king of Judah, was trying to reestablish national unity on
all levels — social, political and religious. His efforts would culminate in the great
religious reform that began in 622 and which sought to centralize all ritual reli-
gious worship in Jerusalem.

The oracles in this section are set in this historical background. The earliest,
those conserved in verse form, were spoken by Jeremiah himself and exude the
vitality and pain of someone who was an eyewitness. The passages that now ap-
pear in prose may well have been added later, when the book was being rewritten
after the first manuscript was burned (cf. 36:21-23). These oracles are a warning
about sin, about the punishment that it draws down, and about the need for per-
sonal conversion in order to attain salvation. The text as it now stands makes it
clear that the misfortune that overtook the people of Israel was due to their un-
faithfulness to God (2:1-37). Even so, the Lord calls all to conversion; if they re-
spond, he will restore peace and unity to the people (3:1-4:4).

2:1-37. The oracles in this chapter follow the pattern of pleadings used in the an-
cient Middle East when pacts or alliances were broken. First, the accused party
and the witnesses are apprised of the subject of the dispute used. Then the be-
nefits enjoyed by the accused are spelt out; he, for his part, should have adhered
to what he agreed in the covenant. This is followed by a list of charges, often cou-
ched in the form of questions: and then at the end comes a demand for imme-
diate action to be taken to set things right. If no agreement is arrived at, a decla-
ration of war inevitably follows.

The word of the Lord here is not that of a judge but of one of the two parties who
made the Covenant and has been deceived by the unfaithfulness of the other.
The prophet begins by reminding the people of all the benefits they received from
God during the time that they were faithful to him. In the early days, as they made
their way through the wilderness, they had a loving relationship with the Lord, and
he took care of them (vv. 1-3); he rescued them from Egypt and brought them to
the land promised to them as their inheritance (cf. Hos 1-3). However, instead of
staying true to the Lord, the Israelites forsook him and fell lower than other na-
tions (symbolized here by the peoples of the Aegean, “the coasts of Cyprus”,
and the Arab lands, “Kedar”: v. 10). Their religion centred on a personal God who
took provident care of his followers, yet they turned their backs on him to worship
Baal and other gods, who are quite worthless (vv. 6-7). They may form alliances
with earthly powers in the hope of getting help, but to no avail.

Even the language that Jeremiah uses shows that Israel has been distancing it-
self from God (he is upbraiding Israel, to have Judah react). In the opening verses
he addresses his people using the familiar form of the word “you” (vv. 2-3), then
he changes to the formal “you” (vv. 4-10), and eventually uses the third person
(vv. 11-15). Only in the second part of these oracles does the familiar form return,
when he reproves the people, to get them to mend their ways (v. 16-37).

The metaphor of the leaking cisterns (v. 13) conveys very well just how ineffec-
tive are Israel’s pacts with foreign nations. In Jeremiah’s time, there was a lot of
debate about whether or not to make alliances with Assyria or Egypt to ensure
survival in the face of hostile foreign powers. The prophet regards such pacts as
being of no real use, but he also points to the danger of idolatry that may arise
through contact with foreigners. Hence the sarcasm in vv. 16-18: Memphis and
Tahpanhes, were two cities on the Lower Nile; “the Euphrates”: literally, “River”
(no definite article) in Hebrew. The people’s fascination with the waters and lands
of Egypt and Assyria indicates the pull exercised by those great powers on Isra-
el. God had taken care of his people, he had given them a beautiful land of their
own, yet Israel had turned away from him and gone after idols — infidelity leading
to idolatry (vv. 4-27). Yet Israel will not acknowledge that it has done wrong, so
the Lord accuses the people of their sins and warns them that if they don’t
change they will be brought low (vv. 28-37).

2:13. The image of the broken cisterns that cannot hold water is used again and
again in Christian writing as an example of the condition of man when, instead of
trusting in the Lord, he relies on himself or on earthly things. St Irenaeus of Ly-
ons, for example, advises us to look for really solid support: “Where the Church is,
there is the Spirit of God: and where the Spirit is. there is the Church and all grace.
The Spirit is truth. Those who are not possessed of the Spirit are not suckled at
their mother’s breast to give them life, nor do they draw from the living waters that
flow from the body of Christ: they hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cis-
terns, and drink stagnant water. They abandon the faith of the Church and are no
longer protected; they reject the Spirit and are not enlightened. Having departed
from the way of truth, they are overcome by every error; they can find no sure foo-
ting. Their beliefs change from one moment to the next, and they never come to
any conclusion because they would rather be the masters of words than followers
of the truth. They do not build on rock, but on sand” (Adversus haereses, 3, 24,
1-2).

For his part, St John of the Cross applies the image to those who neglect God
in their insatiable desire for possessions. “Their appetite grows and their thirst
increases the further they find themselves from the only source that can satisfy
them, who is God. God himself said of them through Jeremiah his prophet: they
have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for them-
selves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. What they drink in created
things cannot satisfy their thirst, but only increases it. They sin in a thousand
ways through their love for created things, and do themselves incalculable harm”
(Ascent of Mount Carmel, 3, 19, 7).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: John 20:1-2; 11-18

The Empty Tomb

[1] Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early,
while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the
tomb. [2] So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one
whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,
and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

The Appearance To Mary Magdalene

[11] But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to
look into the tomb; [12] and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body
of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. [13] They said to her, “Wo-
man, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away
my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” [14] Saying this, she
turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
[15] Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?”
Supposing Him to be gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him a-
way, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” [16] Jesus said
to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means
Teacher). [17] Jesus said to her, “Do not hold Me, for I have not yet ascended to
the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father
and your Father, to My God and your God.” [18] Mary Magdalene went and said
to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that He had said these
things to her.

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Commentary:

1-2. All four Gospels report the first testimonies of the holy women and the dis-
ciples regarding Christ’s glorious resurrection, beginning with the fact of the emp-
ty tomb (cf. Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1ff; Luke 24:1-12) and then telling of the
various appearances of the risen Jesus.

Mary Magdalene was one of the women who provided for our Lord during His jour-
neys (Luke 8:1-3); along with the Virgin Mary she bravely stayed with Him right up
to His final moments (John 19:25), and she saw where His body was laid (Luke 23:
55). Now, after the obligatory Sabbath rest, she goes to visit the tomb. The Gospel
points out that she went “early, when it was still dark”: her love and veneration led
her to go without delay, to be with our Lord’s body.

11-18. Mary’s affection and sensitivity lead her to be concerned about what has
become of the dead body of Jesus. This woman out of whom seven demons were
cast (cf. Luke 8:2) stayed faithful during His passion and even now her love is still
ardent: our Lord had freed her from the Evil One and she responded to that grace
humbly and generously.

After consoling Mary Magdalene, Jesus gives her a message for the Apostles,
whom He tenderly calls His “brethren”. This message implies that He and they
have the same Father, though each in an essentially different way: “I am ascen-
ding to My Father”—My own Father by nature—”and to your Father”—for He is your
Father through the adoption I have won for you and by My death. Jesus, the Good
Shepherd, shows His great mercy and understanding by gathering together all His
disciples who had abandoned Him during His passion and were now in hiding for
fear of the Jews (John 20:19).

Mary Magdalene’s perseverance teaches us that anyone who sincerely keeps
searching for Jesus Christ will eventually find Him. Jesus’ gesture in calling His
disciples His “brethren” despite their having run away should fill us with love in
the midst of our own infidelities.

15. From Jesus’ dialogue with Mary Magdalene, we can see the frame of mind
all His disciples must have been in: they were not expecting the resurrection.

17. “Do not hold Me”: the use of the negative imperative in the Greek, reflected
in the New Vulgate (”noli me tenere”) indicates that our Lord is telling Mary to re-
lease her hold of Him, to let Him go, since she will have another chance to see
Him before His ascension into Heaven.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Song of Solomon 3:1-4

Third canto: Nocturne

[1] Upon my bed by night
I sought him whom my soul loves:
I sought him but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
[2] “I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.”
I sought him, but found him not.
[3] The watchmen found me,
as they went about the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
[4] Scarcely had I passed them,
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
until I had brought him into my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

3:1-5. This canto deals with a second stage of love. It is night-time, in the city;
the lover is absent, and the beloved searches for him until she finds him. The
speaker is the beloved. United in love with the one she loves (v. 5), she looks
back, recalling her first fruitless search (v. 1), and what happened then and her
second failed attempt to find him (v. 2); then, at her third attempt — success (vv.
3-4). The canto in this way describes a trial she has undergone; she overcomes,
thanks to her perseverance. ‘’If you want to stay close to Christ, seek out suffe-
ring and do not fear it. For sometimes Christ is sooner found in the midst of bodi-
ly torments and in the hands of the torturers. Scarcely had I passed them, says
the Song (v. 4). After a very short time, then, you too will he freed from the hands
of those who persecute you, and no longer will you he subject to the powers of
this world. Christ will come out to meet you, and he will not allow temptations to
threaten you for very long. The one who seeks Christ in this way and finds him
can say: I held him, and would not let him go until I brought him into my mother’s
house, the home of the one who bore me in her womb. What are your mother
and your home if not the most intimate and hidden parts of your soul? Keep your
house well guarded; keep the most secluded rooms well cleaned, so that the
Holy Spirit may come to live in an immaculate home […]. The ones who look for
Christ in this way, who ask for him in this way, will never he abandoned by him;
he will come to visit them often because he is with us until the end of the world’’
(St Ambrose, De virginitate, 12, 68, 74-75; 13, 77-78).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: 2 Corinthians 5:14-17

The Ministry of Reconciliation (Continuation)

[14] For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has
died for all; therefore all have died. [15] And he died for all, that those who live
might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was
raised.
[16] From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even
though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus
no longer. [17] Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old
has passed away, behold, the new has come.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

14-15. The Apostle briefly describes the effects of Christ’s death, a death he un-
derwent out of love for man; elsewhere at greater length (cf. Rom 6:1-11; 14:7-9;
Gal 2:19-20; 2 Tim 2: 11) he goes into this doctrine which is so closely connec-
ted with the solidarity that exists between Jesus Christ and the members of his
mystical body. Christ, the head of that body, died for all his members: and they
have mystically died to sin with and in him. Christ’s death, is moreover, the price
paid for men—their ransom which sets them free from the slavery of sin, death
and the devil. As a result of it we belong no longer to ourselves but to Christ (cf.
1 Cor 6:19), and the new life—in grace and freedom—which he has won for us we
must live for his sake: “None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to him-
self. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord [...]. For to
this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and
of the living” (Rom 14:7-9).

“What follows from this?”, St Francis de Sales asks. “I seem to hear the voice
of the Apostle like a peal of thunder startling our heart: It is easy to see, Chris-
tians, what Christ desired by dying for us. What did he desire but that we should
become like him? ‘That those who live might live no longer for themselves but for
him who for their sake died and was raised.’ How powerful a consequence is this
in the matter of love! Jesus Christ died for us; by his death he has given us life;
we only live because he died; he died for us, by us, and in us; our life then is no
longer ours, but belongs to him who has purchased it for us by his death: we are
therefore no more to live to ourselves but to him; not in ourselves but in him; nor
for ourselves but for him” (”Treatise on the Love of God”, book 7, chap. 8).

“The love of Christ controls us”, urges us: with these words St Paul sums up what
motivates his tireless apostolic activity—the love of Jesus, so immense that it im-
pels him to spend every minute of his life bringing this same love to all mankind.
The love of Christ should also inspire all other Christians to commit themselves to
respond to Christ’s love, and it should fill them with a desire to bring to all souls
the salvation won by Christ. “We are urged on by the charity of Christ (cf. 2 Cor
5:14) to take upon our shoulders a part of this task of saving souls. Look: the re-
demption was consummated when Jesus died on the Cross, in shame and glory,
‘a stumbling block’ to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles (1 Cor 1:23). But the re-
demption will, by the will of God, be carried out continually until our Lord’s time
comes. It is impossible to live according to the heart of Jesus Christ and not to
know that we are sent, as he was, ‘to save sinners’ (1 Tim 1:15), with the clear
realization that we ourselves need to trust in the mercy of God more and more
every day. As a result, we will foster in ourselves a vehement desire to live as co-
redeemers with Christ, to save all souls with him” (”Christ Is Passing By”, 120f).

16-17. “Even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view”: Paul
seems to be referring to knowledge based only on external appearances and on
human criteria. Paul’s Judaizing opponents do look on things from a human point
of view, as Paul himself did before his conversion. Nothing he says here can be
taken as implying that St Paul knew Jesus personally during his life on earth (he
goes on to say that now he does not know him personally); what he is saying is
that previously he judged Christ on the basis of his own Pharisee prejudices;
now, on the other hand, he knows him as God and Savior of men.

In v. 17 he elaborates on this contrast between before and after his conversion,
as happens to Christians through Baptism. For through the grace of Baptism a
person becomes a member of Christ’s body, he lives by and is “in Christ” (cf.,
e.g., Gal 6:15; Eph 2:10, 15f; Cor 3:9f); the Redemption brings about a new crea-
tion. Commenting on this passage St Thomas Aquinas reminds us that creation
is the step from non-being to being, and that in the supernatural order, after origi-
nal sin, “a new creation was necessary, whereby (creatures) would be made with
the life of grace; this truly is a creation from nothing, because those without grace
are nothing (cf. 1 Cor 13:2) [...]. St Augustine says, ‘for sin is nothingness, and
men become nothingness when they sin’” (”Commentary on 2 Cor, ad loc.”).

“The new has come”: St John Chrysostom points out the radical change which
the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ has brought about, and the consequent
difference between Judaism and Christianity: “Instead of the earthly Jerusalem,
we have received that Jerusalem which is above; and instead of a material tem-
ple we have seen a spiritual temple; instead of tablets of stone, holding the di-
vine Law, our own bodies have become the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit; instead
of circumcision, Baptism; instead of manna, the Lord’s body; instead of water
from a rock, blood from his side; instead of Moses’ or Aaron’s rod, the cross of
the Savior; instead of the promised land, the kingdom of heaven” (”Hom on 2
Cor”, 11).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	Jeremiah 2:1-3,7-8,12-13 ©

The word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying, ‘Go and shout this in the hearing of Jerusalem:

‘“The Lord says this:

I remember the affection of your youth,

the love of your bridal days:

you followed me through the wilderness,

through a land unsown.

Israel was sacred to the Lord,

the first-fruits of his harvest;

anyone who ate of this had to pay for it,

misfortune came to them –

it is the Lord who speaks.”

‘I brought you to a fertile country

to enjoy its produce and good things;

but no sooner had you entered than you defiled my land,

and made my heritage detestable.

The priests have never asked, “Where is the Lord?”

Those who administer the Law have no knowledge of me.

The shepherds have rebelled against me;

the prophets have prophesied in the name of Baal,

following things with no power in them.

‘You heavens, stand aghast at this,

stand stupefied, stand utterly appalled

– it is the Lord who speaks.

Since my people have committed a double crime:

they have abandoned me,

the fountain of living water,

only to dig cisterns for themselves,

leaky cisterns

that hold no water.’

Psalm	Psalm 35:6-11

Gospel	John 20:1-2,11-18 ©

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’

Meanwhile Mary stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away’ she replied ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognise him. Jesus said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.’ Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’ – which means Master. Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and find the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her.

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Feast Day:	July 22
Born:	1st century AD, Magdala
Died:	1st century AD, Ephesus, Asia Minor or Marseilles, France
Patron of:	apothecaries; contemplative life; converts; glove makers; hairdressers; penitent sinners; people ridiculed for their piety; perfumeries; pharmacists; reformed prostitutes; sexual temptation; tanners; women