[Magdalen] One more liturgy post

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

We often catch these pseudo religious shows (Have we found Noah's vinyard?)
and often get some chuckles, but one of them made a tremendous impression
on me.  It was about Miriam of Migdala.  To begin with they made it clear
she was not a prostitute. That was conflating another story with her life.
But there was this one point where actors had a small group moving along,
and there were Jesus and Mary Magdalene in interested conversation.  She
was wearing this nice but not overstated period outfit. Intriguing, right?
Well, at this point, a talking head said, Actually, we have no evidence for
how old Mary was. It is quite possible she was an affluent widow.
Then as this is playing out, they reran the entire scene. Everything was
the same, but now the woman playing Mary Magdalene was someone perhaps in
her fifties or sixties.  It made an impression on me.  I don't think I'll
forget it. A truly great point, and beautifully made. It is believed that
the early Church mostly met in homes, usually somewhat larger homes of
widows. I believe they have found some archeological evidence of some of
these, so this image of Mary Magdalene feels right.

I guess the mere fact that it has found a way to be true to the text and
yet is not shocking or controversial might be a subtle argument in its
favor as well.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Sat, Dec 31, 2016 at 3:13 PM, Ann Markle <ann.markle at aya.yale.edu> wrote:

> Also not very thoughtful, well-educated, or well-informed.  Sorry it was
> yours to endure.
>
> Ann
>
> The Rev. Ann Markle
> Buffalo, NY
> ann.markle at aya.yale.edu
>
> On Sat, Dec 31, 2016 at 1:15 PM, Marion Thompson <
> marionwhitevale at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > This summer our priest, being on holiday, had  left instructions that St.
> > Mary Magdalen should be honoured.  The fill-in fellow, who was something
> of
> > a doofus in my book, told us of that instruction and laughed and said
> that
> > he knew nothing about her and so he had Googled her.  His sermon was
> pretty
> > much what Google had to say.  Not in the spirit of things, I would have
> > said.
> >
> > Marion, a pilgrim
> >
> >
> >
> > On 12/31/2016 12:47 PM, Lynn Ronkainen wrote:
> >
> >> I have often heard sermons that begin with a verse or several and the
> >> disclaimer from the preacher: "This is sometimes read on this day
> although
> >> it was not today ...."  then your intro + sermon.
> >>
> >> I'm fascinated that a supply priest would be instructed to the n'th
> >> degree on readings - is that usual in most places, dioceses etc??
> >>
> >> peace
> >> Lynn
> >>
> >> website: www.ichthysdesigns.com
> >>
> >> When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have
> >> not a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You
> gave
> >> me." attributed to Erma Bombeck
> >> "Either Freedom for all or stop talking about Freedom at all" from a
> talk
> >> by Richard Rohr
> >>
> >> --------------------------------------------------
> >> From: "Grace Cangialosi" <gracecan at gmail.com>
> >> Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2016 11:33 AM
> >> To: "Magdalen" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
> >> Subject: [Magdalen] One more liturgy post
> >>
> >> I'm supplying tomorrow at a church that I know well. They're having only
> >>> one service, which will probably be sparsely attended.
> >>> The rector said we need to observe the Feast of the Holy Name instead
> of
> >>> Christmas 1 and gave me the choice of the two epistle readings. I
> chose the
> >>> Phillipians 2 passage for that, but I'm really disappointed that we
> won't
> >>> have the Prologue to John's Gospel. I love preaching on that passage,
> and
> >>> it seems to me that we need all the light we can get right now.
> >>> The other appointed readings are singularly uninspiring (sorry, but
> >>> that's the way it feels!).
> >>> I have occasionally departed from assigned readings, reading the
> >>> substitution at the beginning of my sermon.
> >>> Your thoughts?=
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
>