Memory of the Mother of the Lord

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Feast of the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.
Memorial of St. Paul VI (+1978), pope.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 19,25-34

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman, this is your son.' Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: I am thirsty. A jar full of sour wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick, they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the wine he said, 'It is fulfilled'; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit. It was the Day of Preparation, and to avoid the bodies' remaining on the cross during the Sabbath -- since that Sabbath was a day of special solemnity -- the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

After celebrating the great feast of Pentecost, which had marked the beginning of the history of the Church in the world, the liturgy invites us to contemplate Mary with the title of Mother of the Church. We could say that this maternity is evident beneath the cross, when Jesus himself said to Mary: "Woman here is you son" and to the disciple "Here is your mother." These words of Jesus speak to our lives, to each of us who so easily wants to be safe, to avoid problems, to distance suffering and to not face the challenges of evil. Maybe Mary on that day understood the truth of the words Simeon addressed to her: "and a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Lk 2:35) in the same way the spear pierced Jesus' side. We could say that wherever a community of disciples is formed beneath the cross, a sign of every human suffering, there is the Church. We need to be stop at the many calvaries of the world, at the side of the many crucified, to receive the consolation of finding a mother and a son, of having brothers and sisters, who do not abandon us or leave us alone. "From that moment" the Gospel says, "the disciple took her into his house." To take into the homes, in our hearts the mother of Jesus means to be with her under the many crosses of the world as a sign of hope, as a sign of new life that is reborn, as a sign of a new family which forms. The icon of the Crucifixion with Mary and John at the feet of the Cross becomes the model for the Church and of every Christian community.