June 1 2020
Gen 3:9-15, 20; John 19:25-34
Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
Weekday prayer service at St. Catherine of Siena church
Today is the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. The title “Mother of the Church” was first applied to Mary by Ambrose of Milan in the fourth century. It was used by Benedict XIV in the eighteenth century, and Paul VI officially proclaimed Mary “Mother of the Church” in 1964, during the second Vatican Council. Two years ago, Pope Francis permanently inserted today’s feast into the church’s calendar on the Monday after Pentecost. So here we are.
Today’s first reading is taken from the story of Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit and lost their innocence. Of course this is a myth, by which I mean it is not historical, but it’s profoundly true. We all know that serpents don’t talk, and scientists tell us that we’re not all descended from one original human couple. But we all recognize Adam and Eve’s instinct to hide from God, even though eating the fruit had seemed like such a good idea at the time. And I love how Adam tries to pass the buck to Eve, and even tries to blame God, because God was the one who put Eve in the garden. And of course Eve tries to blame the serpent. We lose our innocence, we make mistakes, we get caught, we hide, we try to shift the blame.
The reading ends by reminding us that Eve is “the mother of all the living.” (Gen 3:20) She and Adam leave Eden, beginning the great saga of the human race and our complicated relationships with God and with each other.
Now fast forward to today’s Gospel reading, in which Jesus speaks to his mother and the disciple whom he loved, who is standing next to her. This is a strange scene, and it has given rise to many symbolic interpretations. The disciple whom Jesus loved appears only in the Gospel of John, and only from the Last Supper to the resurrection stories. Many scholars believe that the phrase refers to one of the twelve, who was a source for this Gospel and who in his old age told the writer of the Gospel about certain historical events. But another opinion is that the “disciple whom Jesus loved” is you—and me—that this character enables us to be mystically present at the Last Supper, the crucifixion, and the empty tomb at Easter.
In this interpretation, we stand at the foot of the cross next to the mother of Jesus and watch with her as the scriptures are fulfilled and her son dies. Just before Jesus dies, he tells his mother, “Here is your son,” and says to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” The Gospel even says that after Jesus said these words he was ready to die because all had been completed. Now one consequence of these words is that the disciple—that is, us—now has a special status as an adopted member of Jesus’ family. Hence all of us disciples are brothers and sisters of Christ and of each other. So Mary became the mother of the church.
But what about Eve, the mother of all the living? This is not a story of Eve bad, Mary good. It’s a story of rescue and fulfillment. Just as Adam is the prototype human being and Eve is the mother of all the living, Christ is the new Adam, and Mary is the mother of the church. John Dominic Crossan has pointed out that in the earliest iconography of the church, when Christ rose from the dead, he brought Adam and Eve with him—the new Adam rescuing the original prototype man and woman from death.
There is no condemnation here, but there is a new model for us to follow. Adam messed up by wanting to be like God; Jesus accepts a disgraceful death without complaint. Adam and Eve tried to hide from God; Jesus suffers naked on the cross. Adam tried to shift the blame onto Eve; Jesus brings Mary and his disciple together. Jesus paves the way for the victory of God in the Resurrection, and Mary suffers at his side, Mother of the church.