Monday 10 June 2019
THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH.
Genesis 3:9-15, 20 or Acts 1:12-14. Psalm 86 (87):1-2, 3, 5, 6-7. John 19:25-34.
Glorious things are told of you, O city of God – Psalm 86 (87):1-2, 3, 5, 6-7.
‘Behold your mother.’
Pope Francis instituted the memorial of ‘Mary, Mother of the Church’ during 2018. The announcement referred to her experience standing at the foot of the Cross (John 19:25) when she received a new mission. Mary became the ‘Mother of the Church’ when she ‘welcomed all people in the person of the beloved disciple as sons and daughters’.
Francis’ first homily for the memorial emphasised Mary’s tenderness. ‘A Church that is a mother … knows the language of such wisdom of caresses, of silence, of the gaze that knows compassion.’ The church is thus invited to become more and more ‘gentle, tender, smiling, full of love.’
‘May it please Our Lady to obtain for us from her divine Son the grace that, despite all our pain and troubles, our weak and feeble spirits may be transformed into spirits which are strong, and which sing God’s praises with joy’ (Saint Ignatius Loyola).
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