May 24, 2021

Mary, Mother of the Church

Jn 19: 25-34 

And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. 

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Light overcomes the darkness

As I meditate on this dark moment of Jesus’ death on the cross, I find myself remembering moments in my own life where darkness and despair surrounded me and I doubted if light would ever come again. I am reminded of the long night holding vigil as my father passed from this world to the next. I recall the interminable moments between my son’s accident and the moment he resumed breathing on his own again.

The power of Jesus’s death lies in its lesson that dark moments are part of life - but they aren’t the entirety of it. Jesus died so that we could see the promise of eternal life that awaits us all, so that we could know that light triumphs over darkness. As we find ourselves standing at the foot of the cross, let us remember that it is always darkest before the dawn.

—Sonya Arriola is the Strategic Advisor to the President at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, CA. This is her fifteenth year in Jesuit education, including previously serving as President of Sacred Heart Nativity School.

 

Prayer

Jesus, love of my soul, center of my heart!
Why am I not more eager
to endure pains and tribulations for love of you,
when you, my God, have suffered so many for me?

Come, then, every sort of trial in the world,
for this is my delight, to suffer for Jesus.
This is my joy, to follow my Savior
and to find my consolation
with my Consoler on the Cross.

This is my happiness, this my pleasure:
to live with Jesus, to walk with Jesus,
to converse with Jesus,
to suffer with and for Him,
this is my treasure.
Amen.

—St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, SJ

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