The day after Pentecost, when Mary and the Apostles received the outpouring the Holy Spirit, we celebrate the memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church. connect with those who identify as Christian? Here’s today’s reflection from the daily Mass.
Readings for Mary, Mother of the Church may be found here
There are many quotes about mothers, and many of them feature on greetings cards for Mothering Sunday and other occasions. One such quote is that “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” For some reason it’s often attributed to Rudyard Kipling although, like many quotes, there is no actual evidence that he ever said or wrote this. Whilst many people may take comfort in such a quote, it does nothing to support the belief in God’s omnipresence! It suggests that mothers fill a gap when God can’t deliver!
Today, we celebrate the memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church. It follows hot on the heels of Pentecost Sunday, when Mary and the Apostles are gathered together in the same place in the upper room, awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit. Today’s gospel reading sees Mary waiting in a very different place. She is in a place of death and destruction. The place where she sees her son suffer and die. And yet, in that place of death, something new is happening. Jesus creates a new community, giving his mother to John and John to his mother.
We often think of Pentecost as being the birth of the church. But perhaps the church is born in that bloody place, in that moment of hopelessness and pain. Even as he begins to breathe his last, Jesus creates a new community, a new family of love and dependence. Something beautiful begins to emerge as John takes Mary as his mother. As the beloved disciple, he represents all of us. In his youthfulness, he needs care and love and support – which Jesus provides in his own mother. And so, as John takes Mary as his mother, so do we. Jesus has invited us into that intimate relationship he had with her. As he called her mother, so can we. As he received her loving care, so do we. Adopted with him as children of God, we call his mother, our mother.
Mass today is in Ss Dyfrig and Samson at 10am
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