Mary No Doubt Is The Mother Of The Church

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘, 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟑:𝟗-𝟏𝟓, 𝟐𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟖𝟕:𝟏-𝟕 “𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐎 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟗:𝟐𝟓-𝟑𝟒

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “… 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆, “𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.” (𝒗.27) 

        Our blessed Mother Mary who is generally regarded as the first disciple of Jesus as she carried the Son of God in her womb was also there in the most important events in the life of Jesus Christ especially when she stood with utmost grief in her heart at the foot of the cross. In this gospel passage 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟗:𝟐𝟓-𝟑𝟒 we stand witness to two great expressions of love.

        The love of a mother for her son and the love of the son for his mother and the multitude. The disciples, except for John, hid and abandoned Jesus yet He was not alone as Mary and the other women were there gazing at His tortured body. Jesus may have been tried and convicted like a criminal but still He was her son whom Mary loved.

         This eternal motherhood of Mary is manifested in her great love for us who now live under her mantle of love and protection. Here we also see that even when the salvation of the world hung on His shoulders, Jesus looked at the days ahead when Mary now a poor widow will have to be cared for and this task was given to John.

         In giving John and Mary to each other, Christ finally broke the earthly ties of the family. It was Jesus Christ on the Cross who was in control of the situation, not Mary. We admire Mary’s devotion in coming to the cross (𝑳𝒌 2:34-35) and her silence was proof that Jesus is God’s Son. Could you just imagine that just one word from Mary could have saved Jesus. After all, who knows a son better than the mother who bore him?

         This is the point that others refuse to admit. We call Mary the Mother of the Church for rightly so. Remember that Jesus will become the cornerstone of the Church that was to be established, and Mary carried Jesus in her womb for nine months until she gave birth to Jesus on a cold Christmas morning. As she is the Mother of God, she is also our Mother in the order of Grace. Is this hard to understand?

         In this light, as Mary cares for us it is our duty as her sons and daughters to also care for her as John did through our faithful devotion to praying the Rosary and the Novena to the Perpetual Help.

There are also some who ask why Catholics pray to Mary. For all intents and purposes, Catholics do not pray to Mary but we do venerate her for her exemplary charity she showed by her obedience to God. Personally, however, I dare say that I pray to Mary when I pray the Rosary and invoke her intercession and to those who will ask why I pray to Mary, I always love to respond with a question: Why not?

         The crucifixion reminds us also of two things - it was a victory in defeat. The Romans and the Pharisees may have looked like victors over a beaten rebellious figure when in truth it was the greatest triumph to be ever recorded in history as the death of Jesus won for us our salvation as His death freed us from eternal damnation.

         John's gospel brings to fore the two great Sacraments of the Church. The water that flowed from the side of Jesus points to the Sacrament of Baptism which is the symbol of the cleansing Grace of God and as blood symbolizes life, the blood that Jesus shed on the Cross is what saves us from death, and it is His blood that is infused in us is what gives us new life.

         This is what we celebrate each time we go to Mass and partake of His Body and Blood that is present in the Holy Eucharist.

         This reenactment of the scene in Calvary that we observe each time we attend the celebration of the Eucharist should remain etched in our memories as it perpetually reminds us of the love of Mary for Jesus and for us the Church and, the undying love of God who sacrificed His son to save us and the eternal love of Jesus in Whom we find love, joy and peace.

         Filled with the Holy Spirit as we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost yesterday, we can feel and savor this same love that flowed from Jesus and Mary when we yield our life to the presence of the Holy Spirit who moves in us and guides us toward a closer and deeper relationship with the Father and the Son and a faithful devotion to Mary our Mother. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 9, 2025)