From that hour the disciple took her into his home

Gospel of the Day (John 19:25-27)

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.

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." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

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Reflections:

"From that hour the disciple took her into his home"

When Jesus was going round towns and villages preaching the Gospel, Mary was his inseparable companion, clinging to his footsteps and hanging upon his words as he taught, so much so that neither the storm of persecution nor dread of punishment could deter her from following her Son and Master. «By the Lord's cross there stood Mary, his Mother». Truly a Mother, who did not abandon her Son even in the face of death. How could she be frightened of death, when «her love was as strong as death,» (Sg 8,6) or rather stronger than death? Truly she stood by Jesus' cross, when at the same time the pain of the cross crucified her mind and as manifold a sword pierced her own sou1 (Lk 2,35) as she beheld the body of her Son pierced with wounds. Rightly therefore was she recognized as his Mother there and by his care entrusted to a suitable protector, in which both the mother's unalloyed love for her Son and the Son's kindness toward his Mother were proved to the utmost...

Loving her as he did Jesus «Loved her to the end» (Jn 13,1), so as not only to bring his life to an end for her but also to speak almost his last words for her benefit. As his last will and testament he committed to his beloved heir the care of his mother... The Church fell to peter, Mary to John. This bequest belonged to John not only by right of kinship but also because of the privilege love had bestowed and the witness his chastity bore... It was fitting that none other than the beloved of her Son should minister to the mother of the Lord... Providence also arranged very conveniently that he who was to write a Gospel should have intimate conferences with her who knew about them all, for she had taken note from the beginning of everything that happened to her Son and «treasured up all the words concerning him, pondering them in her heart» (Lk 2,19).