Then [Jesus] said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.”
John 19:26
As he hung on the Cross, Jesus entrusted the care of his widowed mother to the disciple John. Simultaneously, Jesus entrusted the care of the disciple to his mother Mary. The feast we celebrate today is rooted in Jesus’ words, “Woman, behold your son.” Fifty days after Jesus’ Resurrection, the disciples were gathered in the upper room awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. Mary was there in their midst. How comforting her presence must have been for all the disciples.
If Mary is our mother, then what does this mean? It means we can learn from her. It means we can go to her with our needs, our questions, our pain, our joys. It means her love for us is unconditional. It means we are all sisters and brothers of Jesus and of one other.
Holy Mary, Mother of Jesus and our mother too, pray for all of us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
