Behold Your Mother

I thought Mary's life would be spared from suffering after being greeted by an angel of the Lord as full of grace and highly favored by God. Quite the opposite; Mary suffered many sorrows beginning with a prophecy of doom. When Mary presented her infant son to the Temple as prescribed by Jewish law, an old man Simeon told Mary that a sword would pierce her soul. The prophecy is fulfilled on Good Friday as she watches her son mocked, tortured and crucified.
 
Mary is with Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry in Cana, and at the end of his ministry at the foot of the Cross. At the Wedding Feast of Cana, Jesus addresses his mother as Woman and then again at the Cross, he calls her Woman. At Cana, Jesus tells his mother that his "hour" has not yet come; now on Good Friday the "hour" is here. The "hour" is Mary's too and her heart breaks with every hammer blow of the nails in her son's hands and feet.

Mary stands at the foot of the cross with the beloved disciple, John witnessing it all. She hears Jesus say "Woman, behold your son." And to the beloved disciple he says, "Son, behold your mother." Jesus' words go beyond simply providing for his mother's welfare; he is establishing a new relationship in which Mary becomes the mother of us all. As Woman, Jesus bequests her with universal motherhood. The beloved disciple left unnamed stands for all humanity to take Mary as our Mother. Archbishop Fulton Sheen describes it this way, "As a son, he thought of his mother; as a Savior, he thought of us. So he gave us his mother: 'Behold thy mother.' Jesus gave us his Mother for all time to nurture, protect, teach, and guide us in the ways of Christ."
 
Mary holds a special place in my heart. When I was about 10 years old, I woke up in the middle of the night sobbing in fear. Earlier that day around noon we experienced a total eclipse of the sun. The media warned not to look at the sky during the eclipse, because it might lead to blindness. I didn't look at noon, but I did at midnight. Now, I was petrified. The moon was brilliant and I feared I would go blind. I was inconsolable. My mom placed a 2-inch glow in the dark plastic statue of Mary in the palm of my hand and prayed a Hail Mary. Go to sleep, she said, "La Madonna" will protect you. I slept soundly and when I woke up, I could see!

My mother on earth knew I was never in any danger of going blind. She taught me to trust my mother in heaven with my fears and worries. From that day forward, I surrender them to the Blessed Mother. As a new mom, I sought Mary's intercession when I was clueless on how to parent. When I left the boys with a sitter, I would pray to Mary to take them under her care as the garage door rolled down. Now that the boys drive, I ask Mary to keep watch over them.

"Place a statue of me at the front of your house," I heard the Blessed Mother say in the interior of my heart. "Here, in North Carolina?!" This is not Brooklyn where every stoop has a statue of Mary, St. Anthony, St. Francis, Padre Pio, or the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Where would I even find a Mary statue? Within the week there in the store window was a statue of Mary! My dad, who happened to be visiting, is an old-world Italian who believes that church is only for women. He saw my Mary statue and insisted, "Let me arrange the spot, otherwise, if you don't do it right, the wind will knock it down." I will never forget the site of my dad kneeling in front of the statue while digging the ground to prepare a place for Mary. Many blustery thunderstorms and hurricanes have come and gone, the statue has never tipped over! A neighbor tapped me on the shoulder several months later to tell me, "I saw the Mary statue in your yard and I was reminded how I used to pray the rosary before bed. It's been a long time since I prayed. I started praying the rosary again. I even sleep with a set of rosary beads under my pillow."

About a year ago I encountered Mary in prayer while attending a retreat on the "Life Lessons of Mary." I had been grieving a personal hurt for a long while. I was a mess. No one understood the depth of my pain. Mary looked straight at me and said, "I know." From that moment on, my healing began. These are but of few of my life experiences with my spiritual mom. I love her dearly. Thank you, Jesus for giving me your mother to be mine too.

Mary is a source of consolation to more people than any other woman in history. Whether its parents grieving over the loss of a child or men and women struggling with poverty or injustice, people place their prayers in Mary. We look to Mary to imitate her prayerfulness, bravery, and faithfulness. To love Mary is to love Jesus.
Mary's last words recorded in Scriptures are "Do whatever he tells you." Mary lived her entire life in obedience to those words. St. Augustine describes Mary as the prime disciple: by her yes to the angel of God, she surrendered her plan for her life and gave way to God's plan. Not my will be done, but your will be done. "Mary's greatness consists of the fact that she wants to magnify God, not herself," says Pope Benedict XVI. Mary always leads us closer to Jesus. Mary's motherly advice to "Do his will" points us to the Jesus, the way of salvation.

"Christ himself willed to be physically formed in Mary for nine months and then be spiritually formed by her for 30 years. It is to Mary that we must go to learn how to have Christ formed in us. Only she who raised Christ can raise a Christian," explains Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
 
This Lent, let us ask our Mother to, "Make our hearts a suitable place to adore Jesus."