“…John took Mary ‘to his own home.’” (Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering, “Holiness in the Home p.203).
I have been reading from a book, written by Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering called “Holiness in the Home”. And as I was reading from this book, I have come to understand something wonderful about pain…
“In the throes of pains too excruciating to wrap our minds around, Jesus revealed a most precious gift offered for all of us: His mother. Among His seven last words, or phrases, Jesus said to Saint John the Beloved, ‘Behold, your mother!’ (John 19:27). Scripture says that from that hour on, John took Mary ‘to his own home.’” (Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering, “Holiness in the Home” p.203).
And I have been reflecting on what it means for Saint John the Beloved to have taken Our Blessed Mother into his own home? Obviously, there were practical implications to that decision. After all, in taking her into his home, Saint John promised to provide for her financially. He promised to feed her and clothe her and care for her. He promised to obtain medical treatment for her when she was sick and to defend her when she was troubled. But there was also the political involvement in taking the mother of a convicted criminal into his home… What would people think? What would people say about him and about her?
And yet there was NO QUESTION about these material things. They were as nothing to Saint John. Instead, he simply took her into his home from that day.
But what does this mean? This taking her into his home? Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI explains that the actual Greek translation of the phrase “to his own home” is deeper and richer than these English words. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote, “We could translate it: he took Mary into his inner life, his inner being…into the depths of his being. To take Mary with one means to introduce her to the dynamism of one’s own entire existence. It is not something external.”
And I have been thinking about that – thinking about the closeness of the Blessed Virgin and Saint John.
After all, there is nothing closer than living in a very small space (Saint John and the Blessed Virgin were very very poor and would have lived in rudimentary circumstances). They would have kissed each other good night and greeted each other in the morning. They would have shared their meals and discussed their days. They would have prayed together and laughed together and shared their memories of their Beloved together. And I have been thinking about that today, because it was only by taking the Blessed Virgin into his INNER life, that Saint John the Beloved was able to cope with the physical absence of Christ. And that is what is fixed firmly in my mind today… That closeness to the Blessed Virgin. After all, Saint John showed me what I must do when he took her into his home…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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