Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
May 20, 2024
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.
Reflection
After Jesus bequeaths to the beloved apostle the gift of his mother and gives up his spirit, his battered and torn body is lowered from the cross and given to Mary’s waiting arms. Michelangelo sculpted this moment into marble in the Pieta.
Mary again accepts her vocation to hold Jesus and the mysteries of God’s Will, to which she is invited to participate. She held him in the secret of her womb, then as an infant in her arms. She steadied him as he learned to walk and kept holding him with her heart as he followed the roads of his public ministry. With each step along this journey, her capacity to hold Jesus and his mission grew until she was asked to hold the beloved apostle and, with him, all of us, the church.
When sculpting the Pieta, Michaelangelo had to make Mary’s lap enormous to balance the size of Jesus’ dead body. If she were to stand up, she would be a giant. In reflecting on her unique vocation, we can see that spiritually, she has indeed been made so. Her load does not crush her. She trusts and endures with peaceful hope.
Today, we celebrate Mary’s memorial as Mother of the Church. As a mother of eight children, I look to Mary to guide me in this vocation of holding, as each of my children brings me their unique daily needs, concerns, complaints, and hopes.
Our eldest son moved many states away with no housing, no guarantee of income, no insurance, and no set return date to follow a lead that might launch his career. Another son navigated a breakup, lost a friend group, and received a rejection letter from his first-choice college. Particularly as my oldest children endure more and more grown-up life challenges, Mary shows me how strong God’s grace can make me, too, as I wait for the fulfillment of God’s promises.
Prayer
Mother, help our faith! Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognize his voice and call. Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive his promise. Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith. Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature. Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One. Remind us that those who believe are never alone. Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path. And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord! Amen.