September 15, 2018

Gospel: Jn 19:25-27 (or Lk 2:33-35)
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw the mother, and the disciple whom he loved, he said to the mother, “Woman, this is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “This is your mother.” And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home

Reflections
The cross brings us face to face with Jesus’ suffering and death. He was alone. All his disciples had deserted him except for his mother and three women along with John, the beloved disciple. The apostles had fled in fear. But Mary, the mother of Jesus and three other women who loved him were present at the cross. They demonstrate a different presence – love and care overcoming fear and desolation. At the beginning of Jesus’ birth, when he was presented in the temple, Simeon had predicted that Mary would suffer greatly – a sword will pierce through your own soul (see Luke 2:33- 35). What was said earlier to Mary and later became a painful reality in her life did not make a desperate and bitter woman in her sorrow and loss but a woman of faith and hope sustained by her faith in a Merciful God and the love she had for her Son. Saint Paul says that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:3). We can find no greater proof of God‘s love for us than the fidelity of the Lord Jesus Christ to live the consequences of bearing the truth on the cross. His proclamation of the Reign of God – a Reign of justice and peace – is a call to a different social order and to a new social and personal behavior. The powers that be threatened by Jesus’ proclamation decided to put him to death and to silence the subversive call to social transformation. His death is a powerful testimony to the rejection of God’s love and the beginning of a new community inspired by God’s affirmation of the new humanity lived by Jesus.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2018