Mary holding Christ - The Pieta
She was standing at the foot of the cross that Friday, she remembered holding Him in her arms when he was only a baby. The tears stung her eyes and her body ached for her son. She could barely stand. In her head she saw the past like flashes of lightening; the angel asking her, her Joseph not denying her, the long journey to Bethlehem, the visitors that paid homage to her infant, all the miles back home, holding him, loving him, letting him do His father’s work, asking him to trust and change that water to wine, the preaching, the traveling he did as she prayed for his safety, the pride she always felt in her son and his mission and now it all came to this…this torture…this pain…this humiliation he must feel…the blood and the anguish as he hangs there and I cannot save my baby boy, my child, my Jesus whom I loved before he ever left my womb. All should could do was weep and pray to God. She questioned God and that angel why if He is the son of God must He endure this…why? She never wanted to leave Him. She wanted to scream at those Roman soldiers “Take him down from there! Do you know what you have done?”She wanted to look away.
She wanted to just wake up from the horror of this nightmare that was happening before her. But all she could do was weep and pray. Then He looked to her with those loving, gentle eyes and she made eye contact with Jesus, her Jesus, and in that moment no one else existed it was just the two of them again, like it had been so many years before when he had scraped his knee and cried to her and her kiss was enough to heal him. He began to move his dried and parched lips as if to say something to her. At first she thought she was dreaming then as his voice penetrated her sorrow she heard him say to her with such tender compassion “Woman, behold, your son.” She was silent, confused and hanging on his every word. He broke eye contact with her to look over to his sweet disciple John and again he spoke “Behold your mother.” And John held her tightly and in that moment she was his. In her mind she was screaming “NO, NO how can it be your time?” But she whispered not a word but listening intently for Jesus’ voice once more and she heard him say “I thirst” she wanted so badly to care for him to give him a drink, some comfort anything to ease his suffering. A solider held a sponge soaked with wine to his lips and he seemed to taste it. Then he said those final words “It is finished” and her son died right there before her eyes. In that moment her soul felt broken and her heart was completely torn in two, she could feel nothing but pain, she shook and she cried. She just wanted to hold him and help him and love him and now…now he was gone. She would never look upon his smiling face or hear his precious voice again. She was lost and falling all at once. She heard nothing and saw nothing, until she felt them place her son’s body in her arms and she held him, Oh how she held him so tightly and kissed his cheek and caressed his face so gently. She hugged him and never wanted to let go. She rocked ever so slightly back and forth with him in her arms like she was rocking him to sleep as she did when he was just a baby. Her sweet boy, her Jesus lay dead in her arms that Friday. That Good Friday.
Thank you for the post. Have a blessed and peaceful day.
Great reflection! I just watched the Passion of the Christ last night. Every taunt, every strike, every lash was for us, was for our salvation. How could his mother bear to witness such brutality being inflicted upon her son? Imagine how she must have felt… the pain, the anguish, the confusion, the helplessness.
Lori, yes, a great reflection as Thomas said. I love seeing that dreadful day through Mary’s eyes. I, too, wrote about it. Thank you for sharing this. Makes one’s heart ache, doesn’t it? May you have a very blessed Easter!
This woman of God was chosen from the start… The Father chose her heart for a very difficult task… Mary, blessed among women.
Lori, this was an excellent reflection, and it really almost brought me to tears. I truly love how you commentated the entire story from Scripture of Jesus’ death on the cross from Mary’s perspective. It makes me think of Lectio Divina, and trying to place myself in the scene. Did you try to see through Mary’s eyes, as a mother yourself, in order to write such a beautiful reflection?
You wrote of the love of Jesus and His lost only as a Mother could. And Sunday is coming.
Thank You and God has blessed you.
I’m not sure I can even imagine what Mary went through. I continue to be reminded of the passage in Matthew where it says, “and Mary pondered these saying.” This is when they were looking for Jesus and found him in the synagogue teaching the Rabies and others and Jesus said to her, don’t you know I have to be about my fathers business.” I wonder if these thoughts flooded her heart once again as she watched her son die on the cross.
Thank you for sharing this reflection. Blessed Triduum.
Kathy
Thank you for sharing this powerful and touching reflection, Lori. God bless you and your family.
Lori, thanks for sharing your powerful and heart felt reflection from the perspective of Mary the anguished loving mother of Jesus. I often wonder how she endured his journey to the cross and his painful suffering and death before her very eyes. She, the perfect model for all mothers, showed strength and faith like no other that day.
Lori…This was a very touching reflection. It was touching to my heart! May God continue to give you the strength & courage to keep writing…it’s a. Inspiration to others.
Lori , this is indeed a very great sharing as well as inspiring which deeply touches the core of my feeble heart! I can vividly see the scene through your descriptions of the anguish, immense pain and profound sorrows of a Mother for her Son at the foot of the cross! Can one imagine, the wounds on our Lord’s Head pierced by the crown of thorns and all the bloodied stripes inflicted upon His Body through the insane & cruel floggings imposed upon Him and the terrible nails which were hammered into His Hands and Feet! Our Lord Jesus is sinless , yet He undertook the punishment due to us, sinful mankind without rancour and devoid of any bitterness! If I, as a sinner or spectator could shed tears and feel the pain, what more to say the Mother!!!
May wew read this reflection (She Held Him) as part of our Good Friday service at our church?