Saint John prefaces the Word Our Lord spoke to His Mother from the Cross by the mention of the Lord's seamless garment for which the soldiers were now shaking dice.
Why out of all the details of the Passion, should he suddenly begin thinking about a robe? Because it was woven by Mary's hands. It was such a beautiful robe that these hardened criminals refused to tear it apart. Custom gave them the right to the perquisites of those whom they crucified. But here the criminals refused to divide the spoils. They took dice for it, so that the winner could have the whole robe.
After yielded up His garment to those who gambled for it, He on the Cross now yields up her who wove it. Our Blessed Lord looks down to the two most beloved creatures He has on earth: Mary and John. He speaks first to His Blessed Mother. He does not call her "Mother" but "Woman". As Saint Bernard so lovingly suggests if He had called her "Mother" she would have been just His Mother and no one else's. In order to indicate that she is now becoming the Mother of all men whom He redeems, He endows her with the title of universal motherhood: "Woman". Then indicating with a gesture of His head the presence of His beloved disciple, He added: "Behold your son". He does not call him John, for if He did, John would have been only the son of Zebedee. He left him unnamed that he might stand for all humanity.
Our Lord was equivalently saying to His Mother: "You already have one Son, and I am He. You cannot have another. All the other sons will be in Me as the branches are in the vine. hence I say not, 'Behold another son!' but 'Behold your son'".
As she was the custodian of the Vine so now she would be custodian of the branches through time and eternity. In Bethlehem she had given birth to the King; now on Calvary she was begetting the Kingdom. At the crib Mary was the Madonna of the Son of God. At the cross Mary became our Madonna.
When Mary heard Our Blessed Lord speak His Third Word establishing this new relationship, she remembered so very well when it began. Her Third Word, as His, was about relationship. It was a long time ago. After the angel announced to her that she was to be the Mother of God which alone would have bound her to all humanity, the angel added that her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, was now six months with child. "In those days Mary set out and went with solicitude into the hill country to a city of Judah. And when she entered the house of Zachary, she greeted Elizabeth". - Luke 1:39-40 -
It is rightly assumed that no one may more justly claim immunity from service to others than a woman bearing a child. If one adds to this, 'nobles oblige', the fact that this Woman bears within herself the very Lord of the Universe, then of all creatures many might rightfully claim dispensation from social bonds and duties to neighbour.
Women in that condition are not to minister but to be ministered to. But here we have the spectacle of the greatest of all woman becoming the servant of others. Not standing on her dignity saying, "I am the Mother of God" but recognizing the need of her aged cousin, the pregnant Queen, instead of awaiting her hour in isolation like other women, mounts a donkey, makes a five day journey over hill country and with such a consciousness of spiritual fellowship that she does it, in the language of Sacred Scripture, "with solicitude".
Before the Saviour.......
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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