Today we celebrate the feast of Mary, the Mother of the Church. The title “Mother of the Church” for Mary was proclaimed by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964, at the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council’s third session. To better focus the Church’s attention on the maternal care of the Blessed Mother for the disciples of Christ throughout the ages, Pope Francis has chosen to inscribe this memorial for the universal Church. So, while there are different feasts and titles for Mary, today’s feast asks us to focus on Mary as the Mother of the Church.
In John’s Gospel we are asked to see ourselves as the church in the “beloved disciple.” Today’s Gospel brings out the caring relationship between Mary and the beloved disciple, the church:
“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.’”
Mary’s love and care for Jesus shows what it means to be a disciple and thus what it means to be the church. A disciple is one who “seeks first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,” that is God’s Will (Matthew 6:33). Mary saw herself as a servant of the Lord and put God’s Will and God’s Way before all else even her own will as she replied to the angel Gabriel: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
Today as we “Behold, Mary our mother,” let us imitate her faith and her maternal care as we try to put God’s Will before all else, even our own will.