Jn 19:25-27 [or Lk 2:33-35]
25Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” 27Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
Reflection:
Standing by the cross of Jesus was his mother. This scene is the prelude to the Pieta. But I believe this is more painful than when the cold body of Jesus is brought down from the cross and laid in his mother’s arms.
I have witnessed and blessed many dying people with the family gathered around. There is a quiet healing and consolation in the loving waiting for death to take away our loved ones. This is dying with dignity, not only for the sick person but more so for the family watching and waiting for their loved one to pass into eternal life.
The late John Paul II’s prayer at his deathbed was very humble and peaceful: “I was looking for you, and then you found me.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?” asks Paul (1 Cor 15:55). “Where, O death, is your sting?” Behold, our mother is not a Lady of Sorrows. She is a Lady waiting for death with dignity.
Talk about death in your family.