"Jesus spoke to them again, saying,..."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On the Feast of the Annunciation, many of us prayed St. Louis De Montfort’s “Act of Total Consecration, to Jesus through Mary”, after 33 Days in preparation. Today, listening to Jesus in the Gospel for this Monday before Passion Sunday, He assures us:

Jesus spoke to them again, saying,
“I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.”…(from Jn 8:12 - 20)

No one followed Jesus more faithfully than Mary His Mother, and so from today until Holy Saturday (13 days), by God’s Grace, I hope to ponder the verses of the hymn “Stabat Mater”. There are 20 stanzas in the translation I will be using : See HERE. There are over 60 different translations, but this is a version some may recognize as a hymn sung at Stations of the Cross when we were children and still sing today.

Jesus remains our Light in every “darkness” we may face on earth, and He will be our Light forever in eternity where there is no darkness. Mary shared the awful “darkness” of Calvary as no other. Mary was given to us on Calvary to be our Mother and also our Model for the Church. As we prepare for the most Solemn week we call Holy Week, preparing for the Glory of Easter, let us “Behold” our Mother who followed Jesus more closely than any other human person. The first verse of the Hymn:

At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.

Come Holy Spirit, enable us to “see” by Faith, to "obey the words of Jesus:
“Behold Your Mother” and like John take her into our hearts. Jesus, we trust in You – our Way our Truth and our Life, given to us through Mary.