Artists have loved to depict the Crucified One, flanked by his mother and the disciple whom Jesus loved. This climactic moment of His Son's life was planned by the Father, but it was also, even if unbeknownst to them, the highpoint of the story of Mary's life and John's life from the beginning. Her 'yes' in reply to the Angel Gabriel was a 'yes' to the whole plan of God for her extending through this moment; thus she stood in generous obedience, with fiat mihi as the only phrase on her lips, without wavering beneath the cross, taking her part in the sacrifice which has saved our race. She only had hints of what was to come, as when she pondered for instance the prophecy of Simeon - that a sword would pierce her own soul too. John likewise could not have predicted what was in store for him when he put down the fishing nets that he was washing with James, said good bye to Zebedee and followed the Lamb of God. Nonetheless, his 'yes' included acceptance of whatever God would ask. Jesus once asked him:, "Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" James and John said to Him, "We are able." They did not know what they were asking, that the Master Himself would wish the cup to pass by Him, but they sensed that He would give them the strength, and He did. Help us, Lord, to understand some small part of this mystery, by pondering in our hearts, a few of your last words which come to us through John.

Firstly, you call your mother "Woman". Even in your extremist need, you were thinking only of completing your mission; thus you did not accept the tears of the women of Jerusalem, but told them to weep for themselves and their children, for those who needed to be saved. Even though you were fully human and had told us that you were troubled, that your soul was sorrowful, even unto death, you did not look to your mother for comfort. You asked your apostles to watch with you to be your support, but you did not look to Mary, as your mother, when you needed a mother most. No, as the Psalmist says of you, I looked for pity, but there was none; and for a comforter, but I found none. (Ps. 69.21) No, you did not wish Mary to be with you, to comfort you, indeed, many saints have said that the sight of your mother's face, so full of pain, was your greatest suffering. No, the Mother of God was not by the Cross, to lessen its cruelty. She is solely concerned with the will of God, and that is why Jesus loves her.

The crucifix speaks both of the severity of God's justice and the liberality of his mercy. John must be aware, even if only in some shadowy way, that he is the only sinner in the threesome, that Christ was suffering because of him, that, as Paul would say, Christ loved me and gave Himself up for me, and that any further personal sin would be to crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold Him up to contempt. (Heb.6.6.) Of course, Christ died for Mary also but she never added to his sorrows by any action of her own. We identify with John, who is, in a way, Everyman. Lest he be overwhelmed by the sight of what his sinfulness has done, lest he become terrified or despairing, Christ gives him Mary, as an advocate.

Thus, two forms of prayer to God have developed reflecting the double mystery of his justice and mercy, which are inscrutably but undeniably present simultaneously. When we make bold to pray to God directly, even calling Him "Father", "we proclaim his goodness and mercy", but our prayers to Him through intercessors, especially Mary, show "holy humility which springs from self-knowledge [namely of our sinfulness]... [and] proclaim[s] His greatness and omnipotence, and the reverence which we owe Him". (St. Francis de Sales).

This job of encouraging, defending, nurturing our new life in Christ, which is sometimes just a flickering flame that the Messiah does not want quenched, is the job of a Mother. If we are to become like little children, we need one. Thus Christ has made good upon his promise, I will not leave you orphans. Indeed He fulfilled this promise primarily on Pentecost by sending us the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit would cement our divine adoption and enable us to call out to God as "Abba- Father" (Rom. 8). Still, even sooner, Christ took care that we would have a mother, His own. His only and greatest possession, and He gave her to us! Mary accepts her new son and in Him all the legions of sinners who cry out to her day and night "Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death!"

Mary is a gift from God that is mysterious and challenging, a gift that comes with a responsibility, a gift that is not always easy to accept or receive, to take into the house of our spiritual lives. We must remember what sort of Mother she was to Jesus: she encouraged Him to walk the way to Calvary, to love to the end.