20210524 I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ORPHANS
24 May, 2021, Monday, Mary, Mother of the Church
Acts 1:12-14
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away; 13 and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
Judith 13:18
18 And Uzziah said to her, “O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, who created the heavens and the earth, who has guided you to strike the head of the leader of our enemies.
John 19 : 25-27
25 So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ORPHANS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 1:12-14; JUDITH 13:18BCDE, 19; JOHN 19:25-27]
It is significant that, except for His promise of the Holy Spirit, Jesus only told His disciples just before He ascended “not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. He said, ‘This is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'” (Acts 1:4f) There seems to be a lack of assurance in contrast to when Elijah went up to heaven in a fiery chariot; at least he left his cloak behind to Elisha as a pledge of his presence and support. The disciples must have felt rather lost and perhaps even abandoned. They had only the promise of our Lord to cling on to, in faith and in hope. The Lord had told the disciples, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.” (Jn 14:18f) Indeed, Jesus assured them that He would come again in the resurrection and when He gives them the Holy Spirit.
But how do we cling to a hope that is unseen? How can we have the faith to hold on to a promise yet unfulfilled? We can only wait patiently for God to fulfill His promise in our life. We need to cling on to the faith of our forefathers. For the early Christians, they had to cling to the faith of their fathers, especially Abraham, Moses and the prophets. But all these were past figures. They needed someone to be with them. Indeed, today as we celebrate the Memorial of Mary, the Mother of the Church, we are assured like the disciples that we are not orphans. Jesus knew that they needed His mother to be with them, to journey with them in their faith in Him.
Mary is the model of faith and hope in the scriptures. Whilst Abraham is the Father of Faith, Mary is the Mother of Faith. She was portrayed as the woman who anticipated the glory of her Son at the Wedding at Cana in Galilee when the Lord said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” (Jn 2:4) But today’s gospel says when the time came, “He said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.'” Her time had come to be the woman, the mother of the Church, to mediate and to intercede for her children as she anticipated at Cana by telling Jesus, “They have no wine.” (Jn 2:3) Indeed, Mary is that woman in the gospel, “who hear the word of God and do it.” (Lk 8:21) That was what our Blessed Mother always said, “Do whatever He tells you.” (Jn 2:5)
So we have never been left alone, even when the Holy Spirit had not yet descended upon the Church. Her role as the Mother of the Church began in the Upper Room, as we read in today’s first reading. She prayed with the apostles while awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14); “All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” That Mary, Jesus’ mother is mentioned here, her only appearance in Acts, signifies the important role she played in the history of salvation. Luke presents her as a model of trust and obedience to God. (Lk 1:38) Now, Luke not only underscores that Mary gave birth to Jesus but she also assisted in the birth of the Church, at the passion, death of our Lord and at Pentecost.
Indeed, Mary was there with the apostles and the disciples to share with them about her Son and to help them to find a deeper faith in Him. At the same time, she would have prepared them for the mission ahead of them, to continue the work of her Son just as she did by cooperating with the divine plan of God and her Son’s salvific work by being with Jesus throughout His ministry, supporting Him and most of all, standing under the foot of the cross, giving Him courage and strength to persevere to the end by her love and fidelity. She would do the same for the disciples, her children and us as well.
For this reason, Mother Church has chosen the gospel of John 19 to bring out the theme of today’s celebration, Mary, the Mother of the Church. This is because it was at the cross that the Church was in principal born through the passion of our Lord. For on the cross, “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.” (Jn 19:34) Water of course is the symbol of baptism and the Holy Spirit, and blood is the symbol of the Eucharist. At the cross, the Church was born and therefore our Lord entrusted Mary, as that woman, the symbol of motherhood to her. Mary rightly took her office and new role with the death and ascension of our Lord into His glory.
Her spiritual maternity to the Church is founded on her divine maternity and by her cooperation in the economy of salvation with her Son, Jesus Christ. Just as Christ is the head of the Church, Mary as the mother of her Son also has an intimate relationship with the Church, since the Mother also loves her Son’s brothers and sisters. Mary, then as mother of Christ, is mother also of all the faithful and of all the pastors. She remained with the disciples by strengthening them and forming them in understanding her Son even more by providing them the background of His growing up years in Nazareth before the mission. No one would have known Jesus so intimately except Mary, whom He lived with for thirty years of His life. The rest of them only lived with Jesus intimately for three years.
Mary continues this role of spiritual motherhood today, even after her glorification in heaven. She continues to intercede for the Church. This explains why in the course of the centuries, Saints, theologians and Popes and Christian piety have honored Mary with various titles such as Mother of Disciples, of the Faithful, of Believers, of all those who are reborn in Christ; and also, as Mother of the Church. The last title was given prominence when Blessed Paul VI, on 21 November 1964, at the conclusion of the Third Session of the Second Vatican Council, declared the Blessed Virgin Mary as “Mother of the Church”, that is to say, of all Christian peoples, the faithful as well as the pastors who call her the most loving Mother, and established that the Mother of God should be further honored and invoked by the entire Church.
In 2018, the Holy Father, Pope Francis included this celebration as a Memorial in the liturgy of the Church. The Decree hopes that “This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God.” Indeed, devotion to Mary, the Mother of the Church, completes the spiritual life of Christians as we learn from Mary to be in union with Jesus’ suffering on the cross and imitate His death, sharing in His resurrection as we share in the Eucharistic sacrifice. Mary as the Mother of the Church leads us to a deeper appreciation of what it means to share in Christ’s suffering as Mary did and to share in His resurrection.
Consequently, as we celebrate the memorial of Mary, the Mother of the Church, let us turn to Mary as our model in living out the Christian life, sharing in Christ’s passion and doing the will of God by listening to His Word and doing all that He commands us. We are not to rely on our own strength but like Mary, to rely solely on the grace of the Holy Spirit through expectant and persevering prayer and faith in union with the Church. Mary is indeed our intercessor and mediatrix. She is watching over the Church and praying for us so that we can be true sons and daughters of God. Like John, the symbol of the perfect Christian who took Mary into his own home, we too must bring Mary into our home by cultivating a devotion to her. Through our devotion to Mary, we will certainly grow in union with the Lord and in faith.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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