Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved,
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
After this, aware that everything was now finished,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, “I thirst.”
There was a vessel filled with common wine.
So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop
and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said,
“It is finished.”
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
Now since it was preparation day,
in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,
for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,
the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken
and they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and immediately Blood and water flowed out.
Today we celebrate Mary as the mother of the church. When God commanded us to honor our Father and Mother, He not only meant our earthly fathers and mothers, but also our spiritual father and mother. God is our Spiritual Father, and Mary is our spiritual mother.
Mary is unique among Gods creation, she is 100% human, but she she is uniquely special to God because of her intimate relationship with every person of the trinity. She was a beloved daughter of the father (protected from sin). She was the Spouse of the holy spirit (when she said “let it be done to me”). But she is also mother of Jesus Christ, in that she carried the Lord Jesus in her womb, bore Him at the nativity, and raised Him into manhood.
Mother is one of her most important titles because she literally mothered Jesus Christ. But as we see in todays reading, when Jesus died, she also became the mother of the whole church. When He said to John “son, behold your mother” In giving her to John, Jesus was not only protecting his mother from being widowed and childless, a desperate fate for women at this time, but He was also giving us all His mother as our spiritual mother, and the protector of the body of christ, the holy church.
How do we know this? The old testament show us…, It is in the job description of the mother of the davidic king to be the spiritual mother of the whole nation. David’s son Solomon, did not make any of his 700 wives queen of the Davidic kingdom, but instead he crowned his mother Bathsheba as queen. The mother of the king held the second highest position in the kingdom, she sat as His right hand, and was the only person in the kingdom that the king could not refuse audience, and the Davidic queen was responsible for hearing the cries of the poor, and carrying those pleas directly to the ear of the king, and she would interceed on their behalf.
Mary is the mother of God, She is the queen of God’s heavenly kingdom. She is the first intercessor for us with Jeus in heaven. She carries the cries of the poor, our humble petitions directly to the throne of Christ the King of Heaven. She pleads our case directly to ear of the Lord, and interceeds on our behalf. Does this mean that God cannot hear our prayers, NO! But it does mean that you have someone pleading your case, someone that the king cannot refuse. That is a powerful intercession and you would be a fool to not take advantage of it. If you can convince Mary of your petition, you know that the lord will hear your prayer, and hear it in a way that is far more convincing, than you could accomplish on your own.
She is the most holy human that has ever lived. She is the model for how we are to relate to our father She is the most beloved disciple, she is the queen of heaven, and she is our mother. Look to her as your guide and model, and trust that she will always love and protect you.
