280 Mary of Magdala Celebrations in 2000… and still counting!
By Christine Schenk csj
"We couldn't stop talking about how wonderful the service was" wrote Laura Grindstaff, reporting on her parish celebration of St. Mary of Magdala. "Afterwards people who didn't even really know one another hugged. We all left saying we have to at least double our numbers for next year." Begun three years ago as the brainchild of FutureChurch, the celebrations of the July 22nd feast increased tenfold this year to 280 from an estimated 24 celebrations in 1998. The prayer services provide opportunities for women to serve in visible liturgical roles and make available biblical scholarship which counters the false notion that Mary of Magdala was a prostitute. Instead, history shows that she was the first to witness the resurrection, even becoming known as the "Apostle to the Apostles" in the early church.
Call to Action members and regional leaders were instrumental in helping the celebrations expand well beyond the 200 initially projected by organizers. Twenty one CTA regional groups or affiliates promoted the Mary of Magdala events in their locale. CTA groups in upstate New York organized fourteen parish celebrations in four cities, and CTA'ers in Michigan, Indiana, Arizona and New England organized multiple city or statewide celebrations. Over half of the celebrations were held in Catholic settings such as parishes, colleges, retreat houses and convent motherhouses with most of the remainder being held in small faith communities, protestant churches and private homes.
Celebrations sponsored by other groups also attracted large numbers of worshippers. The Magdalen Project, begun by seven women in Atlanta had to turn away 30 people after packing Emory University's Bishops Hall to hear Chris Schenk's biblical presentation and storyteller Pam McGrath's moving rendition of her search for Mary of Magdala. Cincinnati Sister of Charity Louise Akers organized 22 cosponsors for their large celebration at Mount St. Joseph Motherhouse, including five parishes, four religious orders, two citywide justice and peace groups in Covington and Cincinnati, area WomanChurch groups, the Grail Women Task Force and five retreat centers.
National church reform organizations such as Dignity, CORPUS and the Women's Ordination Conference promoted the celebration in their local chapters and publications. CORPUS Reports even published copies of the prayer service in their July issue. Internationally, celebrations were held in Belgium,Canada and London's Westminster Hall.
Creativity fluorished with several groups featuring storytellers, large banners with Eileen Verbus' beautiful Mary of Magdala artwork, placemats with poetry and even red eggs used by the Palo Alto Thomas Merton community to remind us we can "expect miracles." Many celebrators viewed a video of the recently televised A&E program on Mary of Magdala. Others used the fine Lifetime TV video featuring Archbishop Rembert Weakland. Cleveland's FutureChurch featured speakers such as Dr. Diana Hayes speaking on Womanist Theology and a small faith community in Fremont, Ca used the occasion to educate themselves on the 1995 Beijing declaration that "Women's Rights are Human Rights."
Media abounded with major articles or op ed pieces appearing in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Philadelphia Daily News, New York Newsday, the Charlotte Observer, the Utica Post Dispatch, the Solon (Ohio)Times, the Indianapolis Star, The Cincinnati Inquirer and the Parkersburg (WV) News. Articles in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun Times and the Indianapolis Star listed times and locations of celebrations and a small newsbrief even appeared in the Washington Post. Most fun of all however was a Vatican Radio interview with Chris Schenk which played twice on the feast day itself. Available over the internet on www.vatican.va the English language program is heard all over the world.
This massive grassroots organizing effort could not have succeeded without the help of FutureChurch database specialist Sharon Daw, CTA special projects coordinator Kim Graw, and the Women in Church Leadership (WICL) anchors who helped organize callbacks to over 1300 people. Nearly everyone who had a celebration told us that "the energy was wonderful and we can't wait to do this next year!"
We're really glad to hear that and so, we suspect, is Mary of Magdala!
