Jesus Gifts His Mother
[Lord Jesus] help me reflect fruitfully that I have been infinitely ungrateful for the infinite love of our Lord Jesus Christ, who deigned to give me his own most holy Mother as a mother. (OOCC, X, P. 413; STA, 470)
Through the third words Jesus spoke from the cross, he manifested his generous heart. The generosity of Jesus caused him to make a total gift of himself and all he had to humankind. At the last moment of his life on earth, as he hung on the cross, he realized that he still had his mother who was most dear to him. He felt that he should hold nothing for himself and let go of everything before he offered himself to the Father through his death. Jesus also felt that he should not leave his disciples as orphans and his mother would be the best person to be the mother of his disciples. Therefore, he offers his mother as the most generous gift to John and through John to every true disciple of Jesus. For St. Vincent Pallotti, Jesus’ generous gift of his mother to humankind as its mother manifested the infinite love of Jesus for the human race. He felt that he had been so ungrateful for this infinite love of Jesus. The recognition of his own ingratitude helped St. Vincent Pallotti to accept Mary, the mother of Jesus, as his own mother in his spiritual life and learn from her the true missionary spirit, which was a great impetus for his own apostolic endeavors.
Do I acknowledge the generosity of Jesus in offering his mother to me as my mother in my spiritual life? Do I accept Mary as a significant person in my spiritual journey? Have I fruitfully made use of the protection and assistance of Mary in my apostolic endeavors?
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there who he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.” (Jn. 19: 26)