October 9, 2011

Painting No. 12

John 19: 16-27
16	Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
17	Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).
18	There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19	Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20	Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.
21	The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
22	Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23	When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24	“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did.
25	Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26	When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman*, here is your son,”
27	and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

* The greek for Woman does not denote any disrespect.

What sorrow must fill Mary’s heart to see her son mocked, tortured, and now just crucified. Once again a sword pierces Mary’s soul, the word predicted by Simon at the Temple (Luke 2:35).

John 19:26-27 is a very important passage for two reasons.

1. It is a proof that Jesus was the only child of Mary, because if he did have brothers or sisters, they would have provided for her and would have at least accompanied her to Jesus’s crucification.
2. It is also an important passage because it was the third of the last seven expressions (words of Jesus on the cross.) The importance of this third expression goes beyond Jesus’s worry about somebody to take care of His mother when He said to her “This is your son” and to John “This is your mother.” No body would believe that the almighty God is not mighty enough to take care of His mother while He is in heaven. The only logical explanation left is that Jesus, because of his mercy to us and especially to those who lost their mothers, or are missing a mother, gave us a consolation by knowing that what Jesus said to John is meant to also be for each of us. Mary is our mother.

It is true that the Blessed Virgin Mary is not divine because she was created like all of us. However, she is not an ordinary woman for the following reasons.

1. God cannot cohabit with a sinner. We all know from the bible the story of the fallen angel, better known as Satan (See Isaiah 14:12-15) If God had cast down to earth Satan and his followers it is precisely because Satan committed the first sin ever by a creature of God’s creation, which was envy. This is to say that God would not have chosen a woman who was a sinner to carry Him in her womb 9 months during her pregnancy.
2. In the Annunciation (See Painting No.1 (Luke 1:26-38) the angel Gabriel told her, “Greetings, you who are highly favored (blessed among women) the Lord is with you.”

A PRAYER FOR FORGIVENESS

DEAR ALMIGHTY AND HOLY GOD,

YOU HUMBLED YOURSELF AND BECAME HUMAN IN JESUS CHRIST. YOUR
CELESTIAL LIGHT CAME TO ENLIGHTEN THE DARKNESS OF OUR SOULS AND
HEARTS TO SAVE US FROM ETERNAL DEATH. WE, INSTEAD OF GLORIFYING
YOUR PRESENCE HERE ON EARTH AMONG US, DESPISED AND REJECTED YOU
AND CRUCIFIED YOU ON A CROSS. UNTIL NOW WE CRUCIFY YOU EVERYDAY
BY DISOBEYING YOUR COMMANDMENTS. BUT, WITH YOUR ENDLESS LOVE
AND FORGIVENESS YOU ACCEPTED TO SHED YOUR BLOOD ON THE CROSS TO
CLEANSE ALL OUR SINS.

FATHER, I HAVE HURT YOU BY NEGLECTING YOUR COMMANDMENTS WITH MY
ACTS, DEEDS, THOUGHTS, AND SPEECH. I KNOW THAT I DO NOT DESERVE
YOUR MERCY. I ASK YOU GOD THAT YOU FORGIVE ME OF MY SINS KNOWN
AND UNKNOWN. I ASK YOU JESUS TO COME TO MY HEART AS MY SAVIOR. I
ASK THAT FROM THIS MOMENT YOU DIRECT ME. FROM THIS DAY I PLEDGE TO
HEAR YOUR VOICE AND OBEY YOUR COMMANDMENTS.
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE ETERNAL LIFE THAT YOU GAVE ME WHEN YOU
SHED YOUR BLOOD ON THE CROSS.

AMEN