The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate our mission to witness to the world as members of the Church community.
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| Witness to the world |
The reading from the Book of Genesis invites us to ponder the context of “I will put enmity between you and the woman.”
* [3:15] They will strike…at their heel: the antecedent for “they” and “their” is the collective noun “offspring,” i.e., all the descendants of the woman. Christian tradition has seen in this passage, however, more than unending hostility between snakes and human beings. The snake was identified with the devil (Wis 2:24; Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9; 20:2), whose eventual defeat seemed implied in the verse. Because “the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8), the passage was understood as the first promise of a redeemer for fallen humankind, the protoevangelium. Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. A.D. 130–200), in his Against Heresies 5.21.1, followed by several other Fathers of the Church, interpreted the verse as referring to Christ, and cited Gal 3:19 and 4:4 to support the reference. Another interpretive translation is ipsa, “she,” and is reflected in Jerome’s Vulgate. “She” was thought to refer to Mary, the mother of the messiah. In Christian art Mary is sometimes depicted with her foot on the head of the serpent.1
Psalm 87 declares the joy of living in Zion.
* [87:5–6] The bond between the exile and the holy city was so strong as to override the exile’s citizenship of lesser cities.2
From the Gospel of John we ponder Jesus' statement ‘Woman, here is your son.’
* [19:26–27] This scene has been interpreted literally, of Jesus’ concern for his mother; and symbolically, e.g., in the light of the Cana story in Jn 2 (the presence of the mother of Jesus, the address woman, and the mention of the hour) and of the upper room in Jn 13 (the presence of the beloved disciple; the hour). Now that the hour has come (Jn 19:28), Mary (a symbol of the church?) is given a role as the mother of Christians (personified by the beloved disciple); or, as a representative of those seeking salvation, she is supported by the disciple who interprets Jesus’ revelation; or Jewish and Gentile Christianity (or Israel and the Christian community) are reconciled.3
George Butterfield reflecting on “Woman, behold, your son… Behold, your mother.” quotes St. Jerome.
For we judge people’s virtue not by their sex but by their character, and we hold those to be worthy of the highest glory who have renounced both rank and wealth. It was for this reason that Jesus loved the Evangelist John more than the other disciples. For John was of noble birth and known to the high priest, yet he was so little intimidated by the plotting of the Jews that he introduced Peter into his court and was the only one of the apostles bold enough to take his stand before the cross. For it was he who took the Savior’s parent to his own home. It was the virgin son who received the virgin mother as a legacy from the Lord (St. Jerome).4
Don Schwager quotes “God borrows Mary's flesh to lead humanity to glory,” by an anonymous early author from the Greek church.
"The virgin mother, when wine was lacking, wanted Jesus to do a miracle. She was at once answered, 'Woman, what have I to do with you?' as if to say plainly, The fact that I can do a miracle comes to me from my Father, not my mother. For it was from the nature of his Father that he could do miracles but from the nature of his mother that he could die. When he was on the cross, then, in dying he acknowledged his mother whom he commended to the disciple, saying, 'Behold your mother.' And so, when he says, 'Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour is not yet come" (John 2:4). he is in effect saying, In the miracle, which I did not from your nature, I do not acknowledge you. When the hour of death shall come, however, I shall acknowledge you as my mother, since it is from you that I can die." (excerpt from LETTER 10.39.27)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Genesis 3:9-15, 20 comments the second-century bishop St. Irenaeus wrote that the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. Yes, Eve became mother of all the living, but by welcoming Jesus into her womb, Mary has become mother to all those born into eternal life through him. And that makes her mother of the entire Church.
As a good mother, Mary supports and guides us—both individually and as a Church—with tenderness and compassion. She is committed to teaching us and helping us grow into kind, faithful people who love the Lord and each other. So she urges us to obey and trust in God. And she doesn’t just tell us what to do; she sets the example for us as well. By her actions, she shows us how to “hear the word of God and act on it,” and she shows us how to do it in humility and surrender (Luke 8:21).6
Friar Jude Winkler explores levels of interpretation of the text from Genesis. Use of titles in the Gospel of John is an indication that the character may be in a symbolic role. Friar Jude connects the symbolism of Mary as Mother of the Church to our role to raise Christians for Jesus.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the goal of the spiritual journey is to discover and move toward connectedness on ever new levels. We may begin by making little connections with other people, with nature and animals, then grow into deeper connectedness with people. Finally, we can experience full connectedness as union with God. Remember, how you do anything is how you do everything. Without connectedness and communion, we don’t exist fully as our truest selves. Becoming who we really are is a matter of learning how to become more and more deeply connected.
Foundational love gives us hope and allows us to trust “what is” as the jumping-off point, no matter how unsteady it feels. It allows us to work together toward “what can be.” The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus shows us what’s fully possible. God will always bring yet more life and wholeness out of seeming chaos and death. In the words of Timothy Gorringe and Rosie Beckham, “Faith in the resurrection is the ground on which Christians hope for a different future, a transition to a society less destructive, more peaceful and more whole. Living in this hope . . . calls ekklesia [the assembly of Christians] to live as a ‘contrast community’ to society.” [1]
Building such “contrast” communities was precisely Paul’s missionary strategy. You can see it throughout the New Testament. Paul believed that small communities of Jesus’ followers would make the Gospel message believable: Jesus is Lord (rather than Caesar is Lord); sharing abundance and living in simplicity (rather than hoarding wealth); nonviolence and chosen suffering (rather than aligning with power). Paul was very practical. He taught that our faith must take actual form in a living, loving group of people. Otherwise, love is just a theory.7
The Memorial to the Mother of the Church recognizes the role of the continued submission of Mary to the Will of God building a Church community.
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