Blood and water which flowed from the side of Christ brought about the birth of Holy Mother Church. For through the waters of our baptism we were all inserted into the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! New life and the Spirit of Truth was breathed into us at Pentecost as we are sent to make disciples of all nations baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to obey our Lord’s commands.
How wonderful it is then that today we remember and honour Mary, Mother of the Church given to us by Jesus Christ our Lord Himself. Spouse of the Holy Spirit and star of the New Evangelisation. For it is through her God rebuilt the House of David. And she leads all her children into a deeper knowledge and love of her Son. Being the true daughter of God, the daughter of Zion, she is truly our mother in faith and love. Indeed, she conceived Jesus in her heart before she conceived Him in her womb. We, too, must imbibe her virtues of faith, hope, charity, poverty and obedience.
O dearest blessed Mother, pray for us that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ Your beloved Son. Amen
First reading
Genesis 3:9-15,20 ·
The mother of all those who live
After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’
Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,
‘Be accursed beyond all cattle,
all wild beasts.
You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust
every day of your life.
I will make you enemies of each other:
you and the woman,
your offspring and her offspring.
It will crush your head
and you will strike its heel.’
The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.
Gospel
John 19:25-34
‘Behold your son. Behold your mother.’
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home.
After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed, and to fulfil the scripture perfectly he said, ‘I am thirsty.’
A jar full of vinegar stood there, so putting a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the vinegar he said, ‘It is accomplished’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
It was Preparation Day, and to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath – since that sabbath was a day of special solemnity – the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. When they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.
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