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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. John 19:25–27
If God invited you to be present at one moment in the Scriptures,
to see it with your eyes, hear it with your ears, and experience it
with your heart, what moment would that be? Certainly, Gabriel’s
announcement to Mary, Christ’s birth, a miracle, or a sermon would
be awe-inspiring. The moment, however, that perhaps best manifests
pure and perfect love is the love shared between Mother and Son
during Jesus’ three hours on the Cross.
Throughout His life, Jesus’ mother was uniquely privileged to know
Him like no other. She bore Him in her womb, nursed Him at her
breast, bathed Him as a child, fed Him, watched Him grow, and was
attentive to His every virtue. As His ministry attracted both great
attention and harsh criticism, her Immaculate and motherly Heart
remained perfectly attentive to Him and His mission.
As tensions rose during the week of Passover, her motherly
intuition filled her Immaculate Heart with an intertwining of the
most holy love and sorrow imaginable. When Jesus was arrested, the
pain was deeper than any human heart had ever suffered, and her
resolve to be present at her Son’s Passion was stronger than any
earthly force could stop. No fear, threat, or sorrow could keep her
from accompanying her Son to the very end. In perfect union with
the will of God, Mary’s love was unwavering. Her silent presence at
the Cross became a testament to the boundless strength of maternal
devotion. Just as she had embraced Jesus in the joy of His
Nativity, she now held Him in her heart during His Passion,
standing as both witness and participant in the work of
redemption.
As Jesus looked down at her from the Cross upon which He hung, the
human consolation He received from His mother’s gaze was all He
needed. Her love and affection were His only remaining earthly
possessions. Stripped bare, nailed to the Cross, and suffocating,
His mother’s love could not be taken from Him. Yet Jesus came to
give all out of love—everything He possessed, including His mother.
Out of love, Jesus entrusted her to John, the beloved disciple—and
through him, to all of us—so that we might receive her as our own
mother.
As He looked at her with the deepest love ever shared between two
people, He called her “Woman”—“Woman, behold your son.” By calling
her “Woman,” Jesus revealed the fulfillment of her identity in
salvation history. She was the woman foretold in Genesis and the
woman revealed in the vision of Revelation. In that moment, when
the heavens were torn open and grace poured down upon the world,
Jesus’ mother fulfilled her role as the New Eve and the new Mother
of all the Living. She became the Mother and protector of all God’s
children, interceding for them with unparalleled love and
participating in the mediation of God’s grace. To John, who stood
by her, Jesus said, “Behold, your mother.” With that, He thirsted,
drank the bitter wine on a sprig of hyssop, cried out, “It is
finished!,” bowed His head, and handed over His spirit.
As we celebrate this Good Friday, fix your gaze upon the moment
when human love, united with divine love, was revealed to the world
in the most sacred way. The love between this Mother and Son,
alongside the gift of His mother and the New Eve to all of us,
embodies the selfless nature of divine love. Ponder the mystery.
Pray that you may be spiritually drawn into that moment. Gaze upon
their love and hear the Messiah, the Son of God, say to you:
“Behold, your mother.” Hearing, believing, and responding to those
words makes you present at that moment when love was perfected and
salvation poured forth upon the world.
Most glorious Lord, as You suffered upon the Cross, having
nothing left in this world but Your mother, You entrusted her to us
to be our mother, so that we could participate in the love that You
and she shared. I do behold her as my mother, and You as my King
and God. I love You and thank You with all my heart for the
unfathomable gift You have given me. Jesus, I trust in You.
Image: Gent - Crucifixion paint on the wood plate by Renáta
Sedmáková
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