#4 Jesus Meets His Mother

     I miss my mother.
She was my best friend... my confidant... my first, greatest and most constant supporter.
She meant everything to me...

She died 19 years ago and I still think of her every day.
I lost a part of me that day.  I still have her, I know this.... but her death was a major loss to me.

Jesus, I can only imagine how you must have felt.  You were beaten and bloody.
 You were sentenced to die a criminal's death... to see her in the crowd....

I can only imagine your pain at having her see what was happening to you.
But I can imagine too.... that you gathered strength from her presence.

 It must have been unthinkably difficult to witness her pain... knowing that you had the power to stop it at any moment.  To give us salvation, you had to hurt her terribly.  

Did you worry at that moment if she still believed in you?  

Did you want to tell her it would all be okay in the end?

But you knew, didn't you?

She was your mom.  Of course, she believed in you.

She must have wanted to hold you.... to stop you..... to beg you to turn the clock back to when you were safe in her arms.  

But she was a witness for you and gave you everything she could through the love in her eyes.

 

Watching you suffer and die was part of the magnificent "YES" that was Mary's pledge to God.
Is it any wonder that we honor her?

Dear Jesus,

Your mother is a wonderful example of what mothers should be.  Believing in you, loving you, staying to the very end, offering whatever she had to give.... help me be a person like that.  Help me be that supportive of my family and friends.

Amen!



#5 Simon the Cyrenian Helps Jesus Carry His Cross