Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
I was up early today to watch the Tigers game and then get in my morning walk.The Tigers lost in extra innings and as a result got swept by the Yankees. Not what we needed at this time!! For all my New York friends, it is beginning to look like another subway series is very possible.
I had an online meeting early this morning with a group of former students to plan a summer retreat. These retreats are not easy to arrange these days as so many doctors and nurses in China are under travel restrictions. We came up with some summer dates that would work for me and now we'll see how those dates work for most of the others. So much has changed since Covid first appeared in 2020.
Sr. Pio came over at 9:00 a.m. and we had a writing class after she arrived. We then had mass before lunch and spent a little time this afternoon going over some new vocabulary words and looking at/correcting her writings. Sr. Pio arrived in Jilin with Sr. Rita on March 5th, 2020. At that time her English level was basically zero! It is really amazing to see how much she has improved over the past 2 plus years. A great student who has worked so very hard! So proud of her and I will really miss her when she leaves at the end of next week.
We are now into the Jilin rainy season. We can pretty much count on rain everyday...some days in the morning and some days in the afternoons. Today we had an afternoon rain.
I had a meeting this afternoon with some Jilin friends to see how we might be able to help families that have been devastated by the citywide lockdown. So many restaurant/hotel workers as well as store clerks and other non-governmental workers were really hurt by the two month plus lockdown. I am just getting back from that meeting now! I'm happy to report that it went very well.
Today's Gospel and some comments:
Standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfil the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. John 19:25-34
In Catholic tradition Mary has many titles. In that long list, ‘Mother of God’ is the most venerable, going back to the Council of Ephesus in 431. All these titles arose, no doubt, in response to various preoccupations through the centuries. In some of them you get a hint of tragedy: Health of the sick, Comforter of the afflicted – and a modern addition (2020), Solace of migrants.
The newest title to find a place in the Liturgy is ‘Mother of the Church’. It was a Marian title used occasionally through the centuries, the first known use being in the fourth century; it was made an official title by pope Paul VI at the end of the third session of the Second Vatican Council; and in 2018 Pope Francis inserted it into the Liturgical calendar, to be celebrated every year on the Monday after Pentecost.
Mary was always unobtrusively present at the crucial moments of the Church. She was present at the very beginning – the Annunciation. She was present at the foot of the cross: “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home". And she is understood to have been present at Pentecost when the apostolic mission of the Church began. Hers is a prayerful contemplative presence, ‘pondering these things in her heart’.
Like so many of our own mothers she was always around!
