.: 05/20/24

Monday, May 20, 2024

† " His Mother and the. . .."

†

Quote of the Day

"The blessed lady, Mother of our Savior, may well be called a morning, since before her there was none without sin. After her, the most clear sun Christ Jesus showed his light to the world." — St. John Fisher

Today's Meditation

"In the throes of pains too excruciating to wrap our minds around, Jesus revealed a most precious gift offered for all of us: his mother. Among His seven last words, or phrases, Jesus said to St. John the Beloved, "Behold, your mother!" (Jn 19:27). Scripture says that from that hour on, John took Mary "to his own home." Pope Benedict XVI said that the Greek translation of the phrase "to his own home" is far deeper and richer than the English. He writes, "We could translate it: he took Mary into his inner life, his inner being...into the depths of his being. To take Mary with one means to introduce her to the dynamism of one's own entire existence. It is not something external." John served as a symbol for the rest of us. Like him, we are given the gift of a true spiritual mother, one who can mold the very depths of our being and transform us. As a trusted mother, she always points us to her Son." –Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering, p. 203
An excerpt from Theology of Home

Bible Verse of the Day

"So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you." — 1 Peter 5:6-7

Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

Reading I Gn 3:9-15, 20

After Adam had eaten of the tree,

the LORD God called to him and asked him, "Where are you?"
He answered, "I heard you in the garden;

but I was afraid, because I was naked,

so I hid myself."
Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked?
You have eaten, then,

from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!"
The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me—

she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it."
The LORD God then asked the woman,

"Why did you do such a thing?"
The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it."

Then the LORD God said to the serpent:

"Because you have done this, you shall be banned

from all the animals

and from all the wild creatures;

On your belly shall you crawl,

and dirt shall you eat

all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

He will strike at your head,

while you strike at his heel."
The man called his wife Eve,

because she became the mother of all the living.

OR:

Acts 1:12-14

After Jesus had been taken up to heaven,

the Apostles returned to Jerusalem

from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem,

a sabbath day's journey away.

When they entered the city

they went to the upper room where they were staying,

Peter and John and James and Andrew,

Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew,

James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot,

and Judas son of James.
All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer,

together with some women,

and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Responsorial Psalm 87:1-2, 3 and 5, 6-7

R. (3) Glorious things are said of you, O city of God!
His foundation upon the holy mountains

the LORD loves:
The gates of Zion,

more than any dwelling of Jacob.
R. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God!
Glorious things are said of you,

O city of God!
And of Zion they shall say:

"One and all were born in her;
And he who has established her

is the Most High LORD."
R. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God!
They shall note, when the peoples are enrolled:

"This man was born there."
And all shall sing, in their festive dance:

"My home is within you."
R. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God!

Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O joyful Virgin, who gave birth to the Lord;
O blessed Mother of the Church,
who nurture in us the Spirit
of your Son Jesus Christ!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Jn 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.

Daily Meditation: John 19:25-34

Behold, your mother. (John 19:27)

As a child, Florence felt her mother's absence keenly. Her mom wasn't physically absent, but she was emotionally unavailable. In fact, she often relied on Florence to help with the household chores, to care for the younger children, and even to provide a shoulder to lean on when she felt overwhelmed. Florence learned to silence her own needs in favor of her mother's.

As an adult, Florence came to terms with this unhealthy pattern, and she was able to forgive her mom. Then, a few years later, she was able to make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. There, she joined the thousands of pilgrims in the evening procession. As they all sang "Ave Maria," she was overwhelmed by Mary's maternal care for her. She wept as a flood of pure love washed over her.

In speaking of Mary, Pope Francis has often highlighted the tender love she has for each of us, calling her the "Mother of tenderness who is always near." On today's feast when we honor Mary as Mother of the Church, we can point to tenderness as a hallmark of her motherhood—the kind of tenderness that Florence had been deprived of as a child. Mary's love, given to us by her son at the foot of the cross, can be a source of comfort and peace for us.

So look to Mary to be near you in every moment of your life. She who said yes to God's will at the Annunciation will stand beside you as you open your heart to God's will for your life. She who experienced tremendous sorrow while watching her son suffer understands your pain when your own suffering comes. And she who stayed with the apostles on the day of Pentecost, humbly awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit, will pray for you to receive more of God's love and gifts.

Receive Mary's tenderness afresh today. Allow her love to wash over you, filling any hurts or wounds you may still carry. Behold, your mother!

"Mary, thank you for your tender love for me and for all your children."

Genesis 3:9-15, 20
Psalm 87:1-3, 5-7

try to hear it read by AI

Reflections with Brother Adrian:

In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
"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,......." end quote.

Jesus called to His beloved Mother from the cross and addressed her as "woman", not mother. Why? Because, He was about to do something with "woman". And so, let's go back to the first book of the bible, Genesis. In the book of Genesis, we heard about Adam, being alone, and then God form's one in his likeness and image and Adam calls her "woman" which means she came from him.
We are made in God's image. We are "woman". Eve was formed and born and was susceptible to sin. But, the new "woman" that our God Jesus calls from the cross is a "woman" that is not made in sin, and this is us in Baptism. We are able and given grace to sin no more. Seems impossible right?

Jesus calls upon the Heavens for a new creation. A children of the Spirit.

Yesterday it was Pentecost, the remembrance of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Many catholic youth are receiving their gift of Confirmation about this time of year. Have you been baptized with the fire of the Holy Spirit?

Yesterday I asked the elderly if they knew what Pentecost meant. There is much silence and one lady said "it is talking in tongues and all that". LOL. I agreed that is a part of it, but I said it is about being infused with a fire of God's love.
What keeps us from being on fire with the love of God?

I want to take a moment to thank you for your prayers for us in the prison retreat. At the end, some of the prisoners said things like "in my 60 years, I have NEVER felt the love of God as we did here". And many of these are not even Catholics with much of the same testimony.
Out of the 100 men, about 30 signed up to get instruction into Catholicism, right afterwards.
As I pondered later on, I wished the world was like that. That in one retreat, one experience with God, they would be on fire to take the next step. But as it stands, it is like pulling teeth! It might be easier to get blood out of a rock! Why? Why is it that in the free world we don't really care that much to be on fire for the love of God?

And trust me, I wish I too was on more fire for love of God, righ now, all I know is that God is real, and that I am afraid to offend Him. But what about love of God?

And why would a team of men, strangers meet in a prison with hardened prisoners to evangelize?

An older man was walking, a white man, with white hair, and as we were walking through gates, waiting for the next, and the next to be unlocked, I noticed his Kolbe coffee cup that said the Scripture " I was in prison and you came to visit me."
And I couldn't agree more. This is EXACTLY why I went, to see Jesus.
And did I see Him? Oh yes. The Blessed Sacrament was exposed and men took turn in adoration, both free men and prisoners, next to each other. But that's not all.
I was asked to give a talk, and I did. I had prayed that my testimony would relate to them, and many prisoners came to me saying how they could relate. But funny thing, one prisoner during my talk seemed not to be listening, head back, eyes closed, a black man, say in his 30s. I just kept going, because even if you close your eyes, your ears are open. Didn't pay much mind. The next day, we welcome them in one by one as they walk in the gym. He comes my way and as I reach to shake his hand and hug him, I noticed he was wearing rosaries and a precious medal to which something moved inside of me and I told him "come see me later to talk about the rosary".

During the day, I noticed I would get drained, and so the only way to feel better was to be in front of the Blessed Sacrament or to pray the rosary. During a talk and as it culminated into group discussion, I had prayed a rosary and just as I ended with my head down in a chair alone to a side, the black man appeared, as I raised my head, kind of surprised me.

I asked him to sit, and as other prisoners were talking with me, he waited his turn, then I turned to him and asked his name, he said "Darwin". I explained to him that I felt called to bless him and his rosaries with mine that have been blessed with relics of many saints and told him to learn about the Catholic faith after realizing he wasn't even catholic. He agreed. I said "why do you wear it if you are not even Catholic" and he said because he felt better when he wore it. I like that. I told him I wear mine all the time and pray it to get closer to our Lord and told him that rosaries and visits to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament are grace we need.

He acknowledged and was off on his way. I was very taken aback by meeting him. I had no plans to encounter him in that way. Later, I was talking to a white prisoner with tattoos everywhere, on his face, and under his eyes. I stopped him to praise him for speaking well, gets the message across well when he talks, told him I liked that. In conversation I asked for some reason "why are you here" and he said a name I couldn't understand and he pointed to Darwin. As we spoke about how Darwin invited him to this retreat, I asked the guy again "you sure it was Darwin?" He said there he is right behind you! All of a sudden Darwin appeared behind me and I smiled and said "we were just talking about you" and we 3 chatted a bit and then Darwin walks away...to the Blessed Sacrament!

Later in the day, as I knelt before the Blessed Sacrament, I felt our Lord tell me "why did you talk with 'Darwin"? that was Me!". It was an even stranger feeling to have our Lord speak to me like that. We all know it wasn't Darwin, but Jesus inside of him. And what had pointed us together? The rosary interaction.
He brings us closer together.
Today we remember our Mother, the woman that we are to be, made in God's image that we would otherwise not see, sinless, immaculate, so in love with Jesus, so intimate and full of grace.

I was constantly need to refill with grace during the retreat. I hardly feel that way, probably because rarely do I share it to those who want and need it so much. Now we know. Right?
Blessed Mother of God, you are amazing, help us not only fill with grace but give grace to a world so much in need! Help us empty ourselves of our selfish wants, and fill with God's needs.