in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit him and grace to u n peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ and where they are spare my brothers and sisters welcome to morning mass at st patrick's  prepare ourselves to celebrate these sacred mysteries we call to mind our s pray god who is only be gotten son entrusted mary magdalen before all others with announcing the great joy of the resurrection granted we pray that through her intercession and example we may proclaim the living christ and come to see him reigning in your glory who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god forever and ever amen a reading from the song of songs the bride says on my bed at night i saw him in my heart i sought him but i did not find him i will rise then go about the city in the streets and the cry and crossings i will seek him from my heart i sought him but i did not find him the watchman came upon me as they made their rounds of the city have you seen him to my heart loves i had hardly left them when i found him in my heart the word of the lord greater good than life my lip feet with the body of jesus had dead and they said to her woman why are you weeping and she said to them they have taken my lord  don't know where they laid him when she had said this she turned around and she saw our jesus there but she did not know that it was jesus jesus said to her woman why are you weeping whom are you looking for she thought it was the gardener and she said to him sorry if you carried him away tell me where you laid him and i will take him he's a said to her she turned and said to him in hebrew rebounding which means teacher jesus said to her stop holding on to me for i have not yet ascended to the father but go to my brothers and tell them i am going to my father and your father my god and your god mary magdalen went and announced to the  today we're observing one of the summertime celebrations within the church the feast of the famous mary magdalen about whom we know very little it's typical of most of the of the followers of jesus we know a little bit about them from scripture we know a lot of them from pious tradition from hearsay we don't know a lot about them at least anything substantive so we can affirm from listening to the gospel story today three very important things about mary of magdalen mary magdalen the st is that she was a woman who ministered to jesus one of many jesus had the luxury of having the feminine personality within within his life and we know that just from our own mothers husbands who have wives you know the power of the the feminine mystique in our lives the nd thing is that she stood beneath the cross and that was pretty significant because she was loyal and devoted and she stayed with jesus until the end and and the rd thing is what we heard in the gospel story today that she was the one who was told to go and inform the apostles of jesus had risen from the dead just as it's depicted in john's gospel today so as with any celebration within the church we wonder if we can replicate or duplicate the characteristics of mary in the opening prayer today we would call that the col act we prayed may we proclaim the living christ and come to see him reigning in glory as we imitate the example of mary of magdalene and we replicate this ministry are we able to bring the good news out into the world there's a lesson here for all those who are willing to pursue it my brothers and sisters let us now offer our needs in prayer to god who continues to love and save us for the church leaders everywhere that they will be strengthened in their work to create in us some more filled people of god let us pray to the lord for government officials and heads of organizations that they work to set free all those who are imprisoned because of prejudice poverty or injustice let us pray to the lord for the unemployed and the underemployed that they will soon find work that supports them let us pray to the lord for all of us here that we will pursue the promise of eternal life and also protect the dignity of human life let us pray for the lord for our sisters miriam and martha and jenny and for all those who have died that they may enjoy the presence of the risen lord let us pray to the lord heavenly father we look to you to hear our prayers and to answer them according to your will through christ  lord the offerings presented in commemoration of st mary magdalen whose homage of charity was graciously accepted by your only be gotten son who lives and reigns for ever and ever everywhere to give you thanks lord holy father almighty and eternal god through our lord jesus christ for in the marvelous confession of your sane you make your church fruitful with strength ever new and offer us sure signs of your love and that you are saving mysteries may be fulfilled the great example lends us courage fervent prayers sustain us in all that we do and so you are indeed holy overboard the sounds of all holiness make holy therefore these gifts we pray by sending down your spirit upon them like they do fall so that they may become for us the body and blood of our lord jesus christ at the time he was betrayed and then willingly into his passion he took bread and giving thanks broke it in gave it to his disciples saying take this have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you humbly we pray that partaking of the body and blood of christ we may be gathered into one by the holy spirit remember lord your church spread throughout the world and bring her to the fullness of charity together with francis our pope timothy our cardinal archbishop his brother bishops and all the clergy remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and all who have died in your mercy welcomed them into the light of your face have mercy on us all we pray that with the blessing virgin mary from every evil graciously grant peace in our days that by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the blessing hold on the coming of our savior jesus christ for the kingdom that are in the glory are yours now and lord jesus christ who said to your apostles peace i leave you my peace i give you a look not on our sins but on the faith of your church and gracious made the holy reception of your mysteries lord instill in us that perseverance love with which st mary magdalen clung resolutely to christ our master who lives and reigns for ever