The Mother

This is the tenth in a series of 14 entries, in commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.




JESUS ENTRUSTS MARY TO JOHN

It is almost impossible to reflect on the events surrounding Jesus’ final hours with out thinking about Jesus’ mother, Mary. Tradition places Mary following Jesus as he trekked the road toward Calvary. And while most of Jesus’ friends had already abandoned him, we find the faithful mother at the foot of the cross until his death.

What memories flashed through Mary’s mind as she witnessed her beloved son’s torture? Did she replay Gabriel’s declaration of his birth, and that:

His kingdom will have no end (Luke 1:33)?

Did she think of the silent night in Bethlehem when her baby boy was finally born? What about the time, at age twelve, when Jesus traveled to the temple alone to talk about God? And who can forget Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding at Cana?

One thing is for sure: From Bethlehem to Calvary, Mary was there for her son. She loved Jesus. And Jesus, he loved her. He loved her so much that in the midst of his own suffering, he made sure to entrust her to the friend he loved.

My personal reflections:

I remember my own mother. She passed away before my second baby was born. How I would have loved to still have her around. She was a good model for me... she taught me how to do all things well. She never turned her back on hard work, and yet she always knew how to sing, and how to laugh.

I still miss my mother, Lord.

But now is a good time to thank You for having given me someone like her...to nurture me, to train me, to help me become what I am today. I owe much of what I am to her. She is a gift from you I will always cherish.

And today, I want to be a mother like Mary to my own children.

I will always treasure my children in my heart. Always pray for them. Always believe the best of them.

Dear Father, this is my constant prayer for my children: Give them a hunger and a thirst to know You more, the way You want to be known by them. Never allow their faith in You to waver, or to lose its power. Always lead them in the pathway of their destiny. Never let them settle for anything less than what You have dreamed for them.



Walkway Reflections: Introduction
Walkway Reflections 1: The Garden
Walkway Reflections 2: The Betrayal
Walkway Reflections 3: The Trial
Walkway Reflections 4: The Verdict
Walkway Reflections 5: The Whip
Walkway Reflections 6: The Curse
Walkway Reflections 7: The Cross
Walkway Reflections 8: The Two Simons
Walkway Reflections 9: The Crucifixion
Walkway Reflections 10: The Mother
Walkway Reflections 11: The Promise
Walkway Reflections 12: The Darkness
Walkway Reflections 13: The Cloth
Walkway Reflections 14: The Table