My Mother, My Queen

The Gospel reading for today is:

John 19:25-34

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.

As I was praying this morning, these three passages reached out to my heart.  In the first, Jesus asks His mother to be the mother of all of us. She becomes  the new Eve, the new mother of all the living. He does this knowing that the conflict is joined and that the Church on earth, His Bride, will need the help of His mother in the battle for souls. In the second, Jesus consummates His marriage to the Bride, and in the third the Church is born from His side. His perfect Bride.  

The Mother of all the living is there as the Blood and Water come forth, and she stands in our place to receive it. It is the beginning of the New Creation. The power of death can't overcome the love of the Bridegroom and even in death, God creates. He pours out a new life, a new existence. 

 Our mother, is standing there at the cross, as she also stands at the right hand of Jesus with the Church Triumphant in Heaven, and as she intercedes with motherly love for the Church Suffering until they can enter Heaven fully clothed in the wedding garment. 

Her place here with the Church Militant, is right in the heat of the battle. Every morning she is there to help us get our armor on straight, she is our loving guide in the pain and the confusion of the trenches, and in the evening she tends our wounds and lovingly sings us to sleep. Her heart towards the souls that are slogging it out faithfully is a beacon of hope, and that same heart is breaking for her sons and daughters who have either given up, or joined the other side. 

When we are finally at the end of our particular battle, she will take us to the bridal chamber, and she will prepare us to meet her Son, the Bridegroom. She will dress us in our beautiful garment, she will attend us with special graces, which will have the aroma of flowers and exotic spices, and she will hold our hand as she presents us to Him. 

 She is our help. Jesus has given us the mother that He created for Himself. She loves who He loves, the way He loves. She is not just the stately queen mother, standing in the throne room. She does what all mothers do. She prays, she works, she guides, and she never, ever stops loving her children, no matter what.