Our Lady, Mother of the Society of Jesus

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Today is Wednesday the 22 April, the feast of Our Lady, Mother of the Society of Jesus, in the Season of Easter.  

The nuns of Mary, Queen of Apostles, sing the hymn Jesu dulcis mermoria.  Sweet is the very thought of Jesus;  giving true joy to the heart.  But sweeter than the sweetest honey, is his very Presence.  

Today’s reading is from he Gospel of John.

And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. (John 19:25-27)

For the Jesuits, the religious order that produces Pray-As-You-Go, today is a special feast. We think of Mary, Christ’s mother, under the title of “Our Lady, Mother of the Society of Jesus”. Why might any group want to think of Mary as their mother too? Why might you yourself do that?  

The gospel passage chosen for this feast focuses on the crucifixion. Jesus invites John to take Mary as his mother. He invites Mary to take John as her son. John is often called “the disciple Jesus loved”. You, too, are a disciple Jesus loves. What would it be like to hear Jesus say to Mary about you, “Mary, take this one as your son, your daughter”? Put your own name in there, and hear how it sounds.  

As you listen again, picture yourself standing listening at the foot of the cross as this conversation unfolds.  

Finally, speak to Jesus, to Mary, or to both, about whatever this passage stirs in you.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.