Mothering Sunday

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

St John 19:25-27

Only those who loved him most stayed with Jesus until the end. This is the most tragic moment of the Gospels - a brutally tortured Christ hangs dying on the cross; his followers have fled, afraid of suffering the same political persecution because of their association with him; the one 'whom he loved' and his mother wait, watching the person whom they love more than anyone else die in the most excruciating way. This moment becomes tender when Our Lord, looking down from the cross, asks his beloved John to look after his mother - as she stayed with him when he needed her, so he made sure she would be safe after he had left her. 

I often think about Mary and Jesus' relationship. In many ways, I think they had a normal relationship like many of us do with our mother - one of immense love but not without occasional difficult moments. We only see a couple of these moments, such as St Mark 3:31-35 - but at the foot of the cross, we see the power of maternal love. God is love, and all of our love is in him, and if we are living in love then we are living in God. There is something particularly special about the love between a parent and their child, a love which is created by God for us to be nurtured in. This love goes beyond duty; it is vocational, divine, unconditional. Mary loved her child and stayed with him throughout his difficult life and brutal last hours; and Jesus loved his mother, and as he saw her heart breaking, he sought to make sure she would be safe. Love is reciprocal, love is actional, love doesn't fail. Any of us who know what it is to love and be loved, by a mother or father or any one else, know God, and are so so blessed. To all of the mothers, grandmothers, parents, guardians, and caregivers, I wish you a very happy Mothering Sunday.