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Jan 08, 2016

The Magdalene Community Comes To Grace

Beginning January 10, Grace, Houston, will host the Magdalene Community, a group that offers a rule of life based on Mary of Magdala, every second Sunday from 4-5:30 p.m. Started more than 10 years ago, the Magdalene Community will reconvene following renewed interest sparked by the 2015 Mary Magdalene festival held at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, sponsored by Brigid’s Place. 

Grace’s involvement began in 2013 when it hosted Brigid’s Place Mary Magdalene Feast Day celebration in 2013 featuring Grace’s vicar, the Rev. Gena Davis, as the lead speaker.  Davis’ interest and passion for Magdalene spirituality was sparked while she studied at Seminary of the Southwest (SSW) in Austin, where she took a class on Women in Early Christianity. 

Some scholars articulate that Mary Magdalene is the “Apostle of the Apostles,” as she experienced the resurrection appearance and was given a divine commission to proclaim Christ’s message, and her response to this commission in the Gospel of John is to announce her vision to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.”

“The Magdalene community is a community that offers a way to live into the spirituality of Jesus by learning from Mary of Magdala, a woman who was healed by Jesus, who followed Jesus, who stayed by his side at the crucifixion, who came to anoint his body at the tomb, and who was the first to see the risen Lord,” Davis said.  “Mary Magdalene was all in.  She loved Jesus and her actions reflected that love. Her discipleship inspires me to be that kind of follower, to be transformed into the likeness of Christ through love.”

The church also offers contemplative prayer on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, as well as a new YogaMass™ designed to integrate the physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of the whole self into a Holy Communion worship service.