The Magdalene Mystique - The Path Inward

I draw your attention to Friday’s article from the Washington Post: “Visit by Anglican Bishop Draws Episcopal Anger.”

The article indicates that the Anglican Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter J. Akinola, will be arriving next week to install Martyn Minns as the bishop of the Convocation of Anglican in North America, an offshoot of the Nigerian Church (known as CANA.) The convocation was created in part, the article adds, to oversee congregations that no longer want to be in the Episcopal Church but would like to remain in the Anglican Communion. The background events involve the decision by the Episcopal Church in 2003 to consecrate an openly gay priest, V. Gene Robinson, as the bishop of New Hampshire.

Katherine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (ECUSA), http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ responded to the news of the visit by saying that the “Archbishop Akinola’s acceptance of ‘an invitation to episcopal ministry here without any notice or prior invitation’ was not in keeping with ‘the ancient practice in most of the church.’ And she added, “This action would only serve to heighten current tensions and would be regrettable if it does indeed occur.”

My question to you: does Bishop Katharine sound angry? Is this the response that the Washington Post article describes as “Episcopal Anger’?

Bishop Katharine doesn’t strike me as angry at all. But then, I have been listening carefully to her words since she was elected Presiding Bishop and have posted her words and conversations on this site. Throughout this tiresome debate I have found her surprisingly calm and steady. I have found her words connected to a deep spirituality that finds grace in conversation and seeks to add reason to our contemporary debates. Would that the news media would not exaggerate!

To understand some of the details of this complicated situation, I refer you to several articles that may help.

Dar Es Salaam Communique

Bishop’s “Mind of the House” Resolutions

For an intriguing article about the role of money in this conflict and conservative manipulation of the system, see “Following the Money” by Jim Naughton:http://www.edow.org/follow/part1.html and http://www.edow.org/follow/part2.html

I began by looking for some Biblical and theological content when I was re-reading these documents and articles. Ironically, I found both sides grounding their differing views of inclusiveness in the same Biblical words. See below a quote from Martyn Minns I found on the CANA website and a longer quote from the Bishop’s ‘Mind of the House’ Resolutions. I marvel at this and invite your comments.

Martyn Minns: “In every place and in all our years of ministry, my wife Angela and I have attempted to lead and build communities of faith where the radical message of Galatians 3:28 is lived out: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” CANA will be no different. It will be a place where people of diverse backgrounds show the world that true unity is possible when we are connected by “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5).

From “The Mind of the House of Bishops”:
“It is incumbent upon us as disciples to do our best to follow Jesus in the increasing experience of the leading of the Holy Spirit. We fully understand that others in the Communion believe the same, but we do not believe that Jesus leads us to break our relationships. We proclaim the Gospel of what God has done and is doing in Christ, of the dignity of every human being, and of justice, compassion, and peace. We proclaim the Gospel that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no male or female, no slave or free. We proclaim the Gospel that in Christ all God’s children, including women, are full and equal participants in the life of Christ’s Church. We proclaim the Gospel that in Christ all God’s children, including gay and lesbian persons, are full and equal participants in the life of Christ’s Church. We proclaim the Gospel that stands against any violence, including violence done to women and children as well as those who are persecuted because of their differences, often in the name of God.” Peter J. AkinolaAkinolaecusaecusa conflictsschoricanamartyn minns

Perhaps the fastest way to begin our conversation of the two new books, The Secrets of Mary Magdalene and The Magdalene Mystique , is to post comments and quotes. I’ll start with quotes from the first chapters of both of these books. Join in the fun and comment and/or quote. (See the earlier post entitled “Two Groups reading about Mary Magdalene” where I mentioned we would be experimenting with an online book study).
Here are my quotes:
Elaine Pagels, page 6 of Secrets: The author of the Gospel of Philip “sees Mary Magdalene as a powerful spiritual presence, as one who manifests the divine as it appears in feminine form — above all as divine Wisdom, and the Holy Spirit.”

James Carroll, page 31 of Secrets: “the figure who most embodies the imaginative and theological conflict over the place of women in the “church,” as it had begun to call itself, is Mary Magdalene.”

James Carroll, page 33, Secrets: Although Jesus rejected male dominance, as symbolized in his commissioning of Mary Magdalene to spread word of the Resurrection, male dominance gradually made a powerful comback within the Jesus movement. For that to happen, the commissioning of Mary Magdalene had to be reinvented.”

Magdalene Mystique, page 1: “We are a spiritual people on a quest to reclaim our true humanness.”

Magdalene Mystique, page 2: “Our community has begun to consider the soul damage inflicted on both men and women by an old way of thinking and feeling and its emphasis on ‘my group.’ We’ve recognized that we must begin the work of respecting all peoples. We must become shared peace.”

Please comment and/or quote. Hope you will join us in this experiment.

the secrets of mary magdalene

Today our Magdalene Community study-group begins a study of the new book The Secrets of Mary Magdalene: The Untold Story of History’s Most Misunderstood Woman, edited by Dan Burstein, Arne J. DeKeijzen, Deidre Good, and Jennifer Doll, with an Introduction by Elaine Pagels. We will meet at Christ Church Cathedral at noon if you would like to join us on the first and third Friday of every month. Next Monday, The Monday Group at Christ Church Cathedral at noon will begin its study of The Magdalene Mystique. All are welcome.

With these two study groups going on, it seems like a good time for me to write about these two books. Perhaps you will want to purchase one or both of these books and read along with us. Some of my future posts will be an experiment in extending those thoughts that arise in our study groups out into the world. My hope is that you, too, will become engaged in this material.

I began my morning with the chapter by Dan Burstein in Secrets of Mary Magdalene. His chapter is entitled “Our Fascination with Mary Magdalene: Confessions of a DaVinci Code Fan.” Right away I resonated with the chapter title on “our fascination,” though I usually use the word “mystique.” By mystique, I mean our culture’s fascination but, deeper still, our veneration, that is calling us to notice her and model our lives after her - a spiritual spark that is telling us as much about ourselves, our past and future, as it does about Mary Magdalene.

Burstein’s chapter is fun to read and I recommend it. It gives an honest appraisal of The Da Vinci Code, finding its ideas about the Holy Grail and bloodline and deliberate conspiracy more “fanciful” than fact. Burstein’s interest is in the complex and deeper questions that The Da Vinci Code brings up, such as who was Mary Magdalene historically and what was her role in the life of Jesus and in early Christian history.

Burstein is interested in the newly discovered documents in which Mary Magdalene is shown to be a spiritual guide and leader. With an Introduction to the book by Elaine Pagels, we know that the editors will be discussing those manuscripts where Mary Magdalene is listed among the disciples and in some cases is a major voice.

In a closing section Burstein speaks of the relevance for today of the spirituality associated with Mary Magdalene in the extraBiblical documents. This spirituality, he says, emphasizes “the proceses of self-discovery and self-actualization as lying at the heart of morality and religion.” This spirituality contains “more Zen-like, more profound, more spiritual widsom” than we find in traditional Christian theology.

I am eager to recieve your thoughts about what you have found spiritually meaningful in the re-discovery of Mary Magdalene and will continue to report back to you as our study progresses on The Secrets and The Magdalene Mystique. Have a blessed weekend. elaine pagelsmary magdaleneda vinci codesecrets of mary magdalene Dan Burstein

Last weekend Barbara Karkabi of the Houston Chronicle drew attention to Tuklu Thondup’s visit to Houston in an article entitled “A healing power within.” Thondup had been brought to Houston by Professor Ann Klein and Dr. Harvey Aronson, the founders of the Tibetan Buddhist Center in Houston (Dawn Mountain). I was fortunate to attend four of Thondup’s lectures and guided meditations. It is part of my ministry, and part of the mission of the Magdalene Community, to make connections with other spiritualities and religious traditions. It is part of our interfaith work.

As I listened to this well-spoken and gracious monk, I couldn’t help thinking of the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. In that early second century Gospel Jesus greets four disciples, Mary Magdalene, Levi, Peter, and Andrew, in a postresurrection appearance, saying:

“Peace be with you—may my Peace arise and be fulfilled within you!”

or as in another translation: “Peace be with you — acquire my Peace within yourselves.”

In this Gospel Jesus is greeting the disciples and offering them the assurance that his peace will arise and be fulfilled within them. I think this is the peace that we have come to call in our tradition “the peace that passes all understanding.” If the disciples will look inward, Jesus urges, they will discover a shared peace that resides within them. Then they will seek to develop the peace - it is within their reach — and it is a way into wholeness in body, mind, soul, and spirit.

As I listened to Thondup, he was saying something very similiar. Anchor your mind, Thondup counselled, in “an awareness of peace.” Then your movements will be healthy and you will be a good member of society. If your mind is peace, it will become cleared of jealousy, greed, and negative emotions. Then the body will live in harmony.

Thondup admitted that it is difficult to explain but he assured us that we can experience this peace - this oneness, this unity. And furthermore, he explained, if we have an “awareness of peace,” we will have joy. Peace is the source of joy. And, if we have an awareness of joy, then we will have an awareness of strength.

In our Magdalene Community we often refer to the strength that Mary Magdalene embodies in her Gospel. There is the sense that her strength derives from her inward path into peace. She has looked inward to the Human One within herself. She has struggled through seven steps to clear her mind of the negative emotions, including “lethal jealousy,” attachments and wrath. Reunited with the divine peace within, she is loving and fearless and spiritually powerful. She is a model for all of us.

The weekend I spent with Tuklu Thondup deepened my understanding, not only of Tibetan Buddhism, but also of my own Christian tradition. Isn’t it wonderful when we can learn more about who we are and our own religious identity when we listen to those in other traditions? Somehow, hearing another perspecive sheds new light on our own experience. That weekend I spent with Tuklu Thondup helped me understand Christian spirituality more deeply. I’m quite sure that Thondup would be open to that result and happy for me. It’s not about competition.

I am so proud of my sisters who have responded with dignity and broad vision to the unconsciounable remarks made by Don Imus on his radio show. The coach and women of the Rutger’s basketball team have presented themselves magnificently after the outrageous remarks. Though still finding his remarks “unacceptable,” as well they should, they graciously accepted Imus’ apology and said they were working through a process of forgiveness. How beautiful is that!

The National Congress of Black Women have quickly joined in with support, calling for tougher fedederal regulations to protect the airwaves. Such “demeaning, vitriolic, mean-spirited work on the part of many who use our airwaves”, they stated, ” cannot stand.”

One young woman from Spellman College in Atlanta in her response gave expression to some of the deeper effects of racist and sexist remarks: “when you constantly have these images attacking us and tearing us down, it is hard to prove that you are anything but that!” Another said entertainment should not “degrade any other person.”

How long do we have to wait to move beyond such scathing remarks as entertainment? How long do we have to wait until everyone sees that such attitudes are not the least bit funny but hurtful and harmful to the well being of all? How long do we have to wait to take VERY SERIOUSLY the value, worth, and dignity of every human being? This is far more basic than reading, writing, and arithmetic.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17999196/

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=6a70fdd9-a17f-4a99-a0fb-922b77c2141e&p=Source_No_Ad_NBC&t=c1149&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17999196/&fg=

http://www.npcbw.org/
imusdon imusrutgersrutgers women’s basketball teamhate radioshock jocknational congress of black womenvivian stringer

I am interested in your thoughts. The recent film on Mary Magdalene on the history channel (see Something About Mary Magdalene )mentioned an “obsession with Mary Magdalene.”

I wouldn’t call it an obsession but rather a “mystique” – a fascination and veneration for someone whose character has been harmed. I think it’s fair to say that this mystique has taken hold of some of us who want to right a wrong. A wrong done to a saint, and to women in general. And it’s a fork in the road – a turning point - that is changing our thinking in powerful ways.

mary magdalene women in the churchmisogynyfeminismreligionchristianity

On Easter Sunday The New York Times Magazine brought attention to Pope Benedict XVI with its front cover and lengthy article entitled “Keeping The Faith.” The article, by Russell Shorto, sketched in biographical and intellectual background for the Pope’s goal to “re-Christianize Europe.”

Since his election two years ago, Benedict has been articulating his vision, in various contexts: how Europe is denying its own religion and because of this, its distinct identity. Recently in Rome, addressing cardinals and bishops, as well as politicians, the Pope again stated his theme: Europe is on a collision course leading to self-destruction. It must hear the call to return to its spiritual roots. Catholics must return to daily prayer, devotion to the Virgin Mary, and regular attendance at Mass.

Yet, it is clear from the article that the situation in Europe is spiritually ambiguous. While church attendance is very low (fewer than 20 percent of the people, both Catholics and Prostestants, say they attend church regularly), there is evidence of a spiritual hunger in some places in Europe as well as evidence that that hunger is being fed. Take, for instance, the large crowds that show up to see Benedict when he speaks, (the number is on the increase, even over those who wanted to be near to Pope John Paul II). And take, for example, the Commuity of Sant’Egidio in Rome where 300 people or more fill the pews for an “energetic, soulful lay service, a 30-minute meditation - a well-orchestrated mix of prayer and song… conducted by and for ordinary lay people.”

It was the description and the subtle affirmation of this lay-led community that I found so interesting in this article. The Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome is a lay movement that began in 1968 and now has a presence in 70 countries. Sant’Egidio’s focus is on poverty and peace; its leaders have mediated between warring factons in Mozambique, Uganda and Kosovo; the current program is to make H.I.V drug therapy more widely available in Africa.

According to Shorto, other lay Catholic movements have proliferated in Europe. They became popular after Vatican II when there was resistance to a top-down system of control. These communities arose, not under the auspicious of the Church institution, but in the wake of a desire for a less authoritarian style of prayer and meditation. One group looks inward, while another is committed to peace and justice issues. All are led by lay people and are simply for the people. These are signs of spiritual life, the article was quick to point out, and a people who are comfortable gathering together to pray and sing.

This European phenomenon reminds me of what we know about the earliest communities of Christians, who gathered together for companionship and inspiration - long before there was a church institution with a hierarchy of leadership and its rules. The phenomenon also reminds me of our Magdalene Community, where men and women gather together weekly to sing, pray, and have conversation with other spritualities and religious traditions.

The complexity that faces Benedict (and for any church institution) was stated directly in the article: “The problem is that the spiritual hunger that exists in Europe seems to be precisely for what the church can’t provide.” The article seems to be asking if the Pope can have it both ways: maintain the authoritarian structure and harness the energy in the small lay communities?

The Pope is calling Europe back to its spiritual roots. But as Shorto pointed out, the question is “whether it is too late.”
Of course Europeans will decide this.

My interest in is the American Church, and the question as to where we are, spiritually, here. Could it be that our spiritual landscape is more ambiguous than we usually think? Is there really a vast divide between Americans and Europeans on the matter of their religion? Some would say yes, some, no. We do know that mainline churches have been declining in their numbers and that small communities are developing on the margins of the church.

My interest is in what the decline in numbers means, and what small developing spiritual communities are saying both to themselves and to the larger church institutions. Perhaps some of these communities simply want to go it alone. Perhaps others want the larger church to change in some way, even in major ways — to let go of some of its tradition in order to speak to people today - to let go of its past exclusiveness as to who is in and who is out — to let go of its refusal to look within and self-reflect. To be a place that manifests that something important is going on here. Community of Sant’Egidio the popePope Benedict XVIPope Benedictcatholicroman catholiccatholic churchreligioncurrent affairsculturevaticaneuropean christianity Russell Shortoemerging church

This is a solemn week for Christians across the globe. As each day passes, we move closer and closer to hearing once again those ancient words given to the women who came to the tomb in the early morning. “Whom are you looking for?” “He has been raised.”

Mary Magdalene and the women are central to this celebrated story, but it depends upon which Gospel you read as to how you might think about them. The Biblical Gospels vary in their portraits of the women. Some draw a patriarchal view of women, while others trace a more authentic face.

Luke, for example, shows us “diminished” women who are “prayerful, quiet, grateful and supportive of male leadership.” (See Ann Graham Brock, Mary Magdalene, The First Apostle, 36-38) In Luke’s Gospel, the active seeing of the women is not emphasized as it is in the other Gospels (Luke 24: 1-12) and when the women tell “the eleven and all the rest,” their words are received as “idle talk.” It takes Peter - who gets up and runs to the tomb - to verify their account.

In Mark, however, the seeing of the women is stresssed. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome see that the stone has been rolled away. As they enter the tomb, they see an angel in a white robe. The angel gives them a commission, saying “Go and tell his disciples, including Peter, he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, as he told you.” But the women are said to flee the tomb in terror and amazement, saying nothing to anyone. And the overall impression of the women in this original ending of the gospel is that they are silent, terrified, and inadequate to the task of their comissoning by the angel. (Mark 16: 1-8)

In Matthew, the women are given a vision of angels and the risen Jesus, who commissions them into action, saying, “Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and they will see me there.” The women in this Gospel carry out the commission, but their story, interrupted by the story of the guards, is then dropped.

The Gospel of John differs, some scholars say, from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Mary Magdalene (John 20: 1, 11-18) arrives alone at the tomb and sees that the stone has been rolled away. When she sees Jesus, he gives her a significant revelation and proclamation. She carries out the commission, saying that she has “seen the Lord.”

Our Magdalene Community is particularly captivated by the story of Mary Magdalene in John 20: we find her encounter with Jesus hauntingly beautiful and dramatic. Jesus first says to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” And then, so she might recognize him, he calls her by name, and into her own, giving her a significant revelation. The words are so brief that they surely express a mere trace (of words now lost) than a complete exchange.

Recently I came upon another version of the story, found in the Gospel of Peter, a newly discovered ancient text. Some scholars say it may be an earlier version of the story as found in Mark and John, while others say it was written after the biblical gospels, drawing upon their content. However that may be, the version is at once fresh to the ears and familiar. (Unfortunately, the women are said to flee in fear, as in Mark.)

From the Gospel of Peter (13): “And they went and found the tomb open. They went up to it, stooped down, and saw a young man sitting there in the middle of the tomb; he was handsome and wore a splendid robe. He said to them, “Why have you come? Who are you looking for? Surely not the one who was crucified? He is risen and gone. If you don’t believe it, stoop down and take a look at the place where he lay, for he is not there. You see, he is risen and has gone back to the place he was sent from.” Then the women fled in fear.”

You might want to meditate upon this version sometime this week.
The history channel will be showing a new documentary on Mary Magdalene. There are three showings this week but you might want to catch Thursday night at 8:00 pm (see Something About Mary Magdalene )

Many blessings during this week.

Mary Magdalene
Jesussomething about mary magdalenegospel of peterann graham brockmary magdalene the first apostle