Liturgy of the day · July 22 · Ordinary Time

Saint Mary Magdalene

First Reading

1In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and found him not.

2I will rise, and will go about the city: in the streets and the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and I found him not.

3The watchmen who keep the city, found me: Have you seen him, whom my soul loveth?

4When I had a little passed by them, I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him: and I will not let him go, till I bring him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that bore me.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

2O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day. For thee my soul hath thirsted; for thee my flesh, O how many ways!

3In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water: so in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory.

4For thy mercy is better than lives: thee my lips shall praise.

5Thus will I bless thee all my life long: and in thy name I will lift up my hands.

6Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness: and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.

8Because thou hast been my helper. And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings:

9My soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me.

Gospel

Jn 20:1-2, 11-18

1And on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen cometh early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre; and she saw the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

2She ran, therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith to them: They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

11But Mary stood at the sepulchre without, weeping. Now as she was weeping, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,

12And she saw two angels in white, sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid.

13They say to her: Woman, why weepest thou? She saith to them: Because they have taken away my Lord; and I know not where they have laid him.

14When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing; and she knew not that it was Jesus.

15Jesus saith to her: Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, thinking it was the gardener, saith to him: Sir, if thou hast taken him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

16Jesus saith to her: Mary. She turning, saith to him: Rabboni (which is to say, Master).

17Jesus saith to her: Do not touch me, for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God.

18Mary Magdalen cometh, and telleth the disciples: I have seen the Lord, and these things he said to me.

The Gospel of the Lord.

In the Light of the Catechism

Mary Magdalene and the holy women who came to finish anointing the body of Jesus, which had been buried in haste because the Sabbath began on the evening of Good Friday, were the first to encounter the Risen One. Thus the women were the first messengers of Christ's Resurrection for the apostles themselves. They were the next to whom Jesus appears: first Peter, then the Twelve. Peter had been called to strengthen the faith of his brothers, and so sees the Risen One before them; it is on the basis of his testimony that the community exclaims: "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" (Lk 24:34, 36)

In the garden, the Risen One calls Mary by name and sends her to his brothers — exactly what the Catechism recalls: the women, with Mary Magdalene at their head, were the first to encounter the living Lord and the first messengers of Easter to the apostles themselves. That is why tradition calls her the apostle of the Apostles: whoever lets themselves be found by Christ is always sent out to proclaim him.

— Catechism of the Catholic Church, §641

Recommended editions

Catholic Bibles to keep at home

We read here from the public-domain text. But a well-made Bible, bound in cloth, on your shelf, is a lifetime of company. These are the Catholic editions we recommend, with ecclesiastical approval.

Cover of the Douay-Rheims Bible — Baronius edition

Baronius Press Recommended

Douay-Rheims Bible · Challoner Revision

The English Catholic Bible since 1582 (NT) and 1610 (OT), revised by Bishop Challoner in the 18th century. Standard English Catholic text for centuries; the public-domain translation read here. Baronius leather edition with extensive notes.

Amazon US

Baronius Press

The Knox Bible

Mgr. Ronald Knox’s 20th-century translation from the Latin Vulgate, praised for its literary English. Used by the Church in England and Wales for liturgy from 1955 to 1969. A profoundly readable Catholic Bible.

Amazon US

Ignatius Press

RSV-Catholic Edition (2nd ed.)

The Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, with the deuterocanonical books in their proper places. Widely used by scholars and serious students of Scripture. The “Ignatius Bible” is the most popular RSV-CE printing.

Amazon US

Doubleday / Darton, Longman & Todd

The Jerusalem Bible

Scholarly Catholic translation with extensive exegetical notes from the École Biblique de Jérusalem. The standard Catholic study Bible in English. Beautiful prose; thorough apparatus.

Amazon US

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