Wednesday, July 24, 2024: it looks like the Holy Spirit might be in the process of setting things straight.
This week the church celebrates the feast of Mary Magdalene, at a time when Catholicism finds itself in a definitive moment concerning the roles of women. In May, the first-ever deaconess was ordained in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Less than two weeks ago, the Vatican held a press conference announcing that the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith is creating a document about women's leadership roles.
And in preparation for October's meeting of the synod on synodality, the instrumentum laboris was also released, including a pointed remark about the question of the female diaconate: "While some local Churches call for women to be admitted to the diaconal ministry, others reiterate their opposition. On this issue ... it is good that theological reflection should continue, on an appropriate timescale and in the appropriate ways."
Some have argued (understandably) that this comment reflects "delays, deferrals, further reflections, unpublished reports — while the platitudinous waffle about women's charisms and gifts drones on year after year."
As a professor at a Catholic university who was raised in the Episcopal Church, I read the situation a bit differently: I suspect that the dicastery does not know exactly what to do. Its leaders realize that the question of the role of women is urgent, but they are worried that a schism could result if women are ordained as deacons.
As the dicastery considers the possibilities, I suggest there is an avenue it hasn't looked at yet. From my expertise in manuscripts of the Gospels, I'm interested in the possibility that the Gospel of John provides a blueprint for women's roles in pastoral care and ministry, particularly in its characterization of Mary Magdalene. This sacred text may contain unique and surprising theological resources that are urgently needed in our time.
In a 2021 study I co-authored with professor Joan Taylor, we also demonstrated that the word "Magdalene" does not necessarily reference Mary's hometown; it could just as well be an honorific title referencing Mary as "the magnified one" or "the Tower-ess."
Mary (Magdalene?) would perform five crucial ministries throughout the second half of John:
1. Confessing Jesus as the Christ (John 11:27);
2. Serving (diakonei) the supper (John 12:2);
3. Anointing Jesus for burial (John 11:2, 12:3);
4. Witnessing his death and resurrection (John 19:25, 20:1, 11-17);
5. Proclaiming the Resurrection (John 20:18).
Historian Diana Butler Bass argues that these five roles can be understood as a model for "Marian ministry," and through them we may be able to recover something of the evangelist's original vision for women. She and I have already submitted this proposal for the synod's consideration.
To my eye, it looks like the Holy Spirit might be in the process of setting things straight.
A particular verse from the Lazarus story leaps out to me again and again: "This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it" (John 11:4).
Perhaps this was part of the evangelist's plan all along — an illness in the text has been allowed to stay for a time, but it is not unto death; it is to show the glory of God.
I'm just a scholar with a theory, but it seems to me that the worldwide church could be galvanized by such a restoration of Mary Magdalene. And perhaps the word of God can still pierce through the ages in a way that is bigger than we ever imagined.
BY ELIZABETH SCHRADER POLCZER
Elizabeth Schrader Polczer is assistant professor of New Testament at Villanova University. She holds a doctorate in early Christianity from Duke University, with a focus on textual criticism, Mary Magdalene, and the Gospel of John. Her research has been published in the Harvard Theological Review, the Journal of Biblical Literature, TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism, the Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin, and The Christian Century.
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