Reflection
Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church
We Catholics consider yesterday’s Feast of Pentecost the “birth” of the Church, so today (Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church), Mary’s “motherhood” is not some vague devotion, but a real dimension of Church life. Pope Paul VI promulgated the Council’s teaching and solemnly attributed to Mary the title, “Mother of the Church.”
We know from John’s Gospel, that from the cross, Jesus entrusted his mother to St. John, who represents all disciples. At the very end of his life, Jesus realizes he has nothing left to give. And so, he gives his mother to his beloved disciple, and John to his mother.
Years ago, our Passionist (Scripture scholar) Fr. Don Senior recalled that there were two tasks usually assigned to women in traditional societies: one was that of washing and preparing bodies for burial, and the other was that of a midwife. In working with the Church, we Passionists are sometimes not sure which role we are asked to play. Sometimes we feel like we are preparing the body of someone we dearly loved for burial. At other times we feel like we are assisting at the birth of a wondrous new child.
On this Memorial Day, beyond the parades and hot dogs and ice cream, we stand with heroic women and men who gave their lives that others may be free. We stand, with Mary, at the foot of the cross, where there is both dying and rising. Like Jesus, we entrust our lives to each other.
