GOSPEL POWER l SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 l WEDNESDAY

Our Lady of Sorrows

Gospel: Jn 19:25-27 (or Lk 2:33-35) 

25Standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s  sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus  saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her,  he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27Then he said to  the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple  took her into his own home.

The evangelist portrays the event of Calvary as a drama  of birth. The new humanity is born on Calvary, and  the torture of crucifixion constitutes the birth pangs. The  Messiah, who is the new Adam, endures the pangs physically, while  his mother — the new Eve — participates in generating new life by  experiencing the travails in her heart and in her soul. The beloved  disciple represents the new humanity. To him Jesus entrusts his  only treasure on earth — his mother Mary. What the disciple does  afterward is what Jesus wants believers to do — take his mother with  us into our homes. Lord Jesus, thank you for the inestimable treasure you have given us, to  be with us as we go through our Calvary-moments on earth. Amen.