Thought of the Day April 18, 2019 Woman, behold your son.
By spiritaflame 9:34 AM Thought of the Day
Woman, behold your son.
Listen
to John Paul II: “At the end of his earthly life, as he addressed his Mother
and the disciple he loved, the crucified Messiah establishes a new relationship
of love between Mary and Christians…. The words of the dying Jesus actually
show that his first intention was not to entrust his Mother to John, but to
entrust the disciple to Mary and to give her a new maternal role…. On the Cross
Jesus did not proclaim Mary's universal motherhood formally, but established a
concrete maternal relationship between her and the beloved disciple. In the
Lord's choice we can see his concern that this motherhood should not be
interpreted in a vague way, but should point to Mary's intense, personal
relationship with individual Christians…. The words, "Behold, your mother",
are addressed to each of us. We are invited to love Mary as Christ loved her,
to welcome her into our lives as our Mother, to let her lead us along the ways
of the Holy Spirit.”
There
is another spiritual meaning in this exchange. To complete the
total gift of himself to the Father, Jesus heeded his own words to the disciples.
He chose to let go even the most natural human relationship--that between a
mother and her son. There was no denial of this bond, just the acknowledgement
that the greatest bond is between him and God the Father. For his sacrifice to
be complete, Jesus surrendered everything to the Father, even his human
relationship with his mother.
Merciful
Savior, and friend of the human race, on Golgotha you pitied your martyred
mother and bequeathed her to your beloved disciple. By her tears and prayers,
break our proud hearts as we worship your cross and passion and let us take her
into our hearts and homes, now and forever. Amen
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