Step #46-Our Blessed Mother

“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.’" John 19:26-27

Good Friday (April 10, 2009)

I waited until the end of the day to meditate on this step. I wanted to live Good Friday, to experience it, before I sat down and shared what I felt.

I read the Passion this morning and then I took my morning walk. As I walked, I meditated on the different scenes: Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial, Pilate’s fears, the crucifixion… but all throughout, all I could think about was Mary. The sorrow and the pain she had to feel at that moment had to have been so intense, that just thinking about it brought tears to my eyes.

In the afternoon I went to the services. I heard the Passion again, I went to kiss the cross, I heard beautiful music, and again, all I could think about was Mary. Her courage and hope as she faced that moment, her motherly love for her son, her trust in God, her confidence that she did the right thing when she answered YES to God’s request to be the mother of His Son. The depth of her love is so profound that when Jesus sees her from the cross, the love He feels from her inspires Him to hand her over to us. It is at that moment in the cross when Mary becomes the mother of all humanity, our blessed Mother.

Jesus was born to die. He came to die for our sins. He gave His life for us. I don’t think Mary understood this at first, but I believe that even if she knew, she would still have answered YES. When Jesus gave her to us, He made her pain more bearable. We are her children and we honor Jesus’ sacrifice by saying YES to Him when He asks us to take her under our care. She trusted God and gave Him her all with her YES. We need to trust Jesus and give Him our YES by allowing Mary to truly be our Mother.

Our Mother understands better than anyone when we feel sorrow, when we suffer, when we feel insecure, when we are lonely, when we feel desperate, when we fail, when we feel insignificant, when we feel desolation, when we are defeated. We can open our hurting hearts to her because she comprehends, because she felt what we feel.

Mary has walked with us every step of this journey. She has listened to us, she has sat under the tree numerous times to talk to us. Now is our time to console her, to dry her tears and spend time with her. As we embrace her into our lives, we understand that Jesus did not die in vain, because through her we can feel that Jesus is still with us. He is in our hearts. He is present in our lives.

Good Friday (March 30, 2018)

We arrived to the Holy Land yesterday. As Father Willie told us last night, we are not here for tourism. We are on a spiritual pilgrimage. We are here to get to know Jesus better. We are here to follow in His footsteps. We are here to make the Bible come alive. We have read the same passages lots of times, now we will get to see first hand where Jesus celebrated His first mass, where He was born, where He died, where He was buried, where He performed His first miracle. But more than anything, we will need to find Him within our hearts. We will need to feel Him within us for this pilgrimage to truly come alive.

My prayer is that at the end of this ten-day pilgrimage, I will be able to know Him a little better. I also hope that I will feel closer to Mama Mary, and that I will be able to tell her, “Mama Mary, your Son did not die in vain. He is very much alive, not just here in Israel, but in the whole world.”