Sexy, Innocent Child-Woman

Today is the feastday of St. Mary Magdalene, a woman I strongly identify with and one of my patron saints--ever since that fateful night when I made my peace with God.

Mary of Magdala is certainly one of the most controversial figures in the Catholic Church and indeed, Christianity in general. Was she a prostitute or simply a convert (a previously sinful person but not necessarily a prostitute) who spent the rest of her life following Christ? Did the Church conflate her identity with Mary of Bethany, or the woman with the alabaster jar who annointed Jesus' feet, and assume that she had led a "questionable" life, since the bible says Jesus drove seven demons out of her? Was she really the beloved disciple? Was she the real author of the fourth Gospel in the New Testament, she who received special teachings from Jesus, only to be silenced and kept anonymous simply because she was a woman? Did the male-dominated early church see her as a threat and undermine the authority and involvement of women by reducing her to a one-dimensional character and "harlotizing" a woman of substance?

These are questions that biblical scholars and church leaders continue to debate on. It is noteworthy to mention that the Catholic church quietly admitted that Mary Magdalene's standard image as a reformed prostitute is not supported by the text of the bible, as critics had asserted. If only this truth would seep into our common knowledge and understanding.

In the end, it doesn't matter. She may be misunderstood and misjudged by human beings but God knows who she is, how much she loved the Lord, and how much she matters in God's eyes. And it cannot be denied that she is the Apostle to the Apostles. The good news of salvation, the Resurrection of our Lord, was given to her.

On her feastday, I can only pray that I may reclaim and renew my devotion to God and to be brave enough to testify to the works of God and the Good News in my life as my patron saint did in her lifetime.