Before dying on the cross , Jesus entrusted his mother to the care of the beloved disciple “Behold your mother” ( Jn 19, 27 ) . With the immediate acceptance (“from that hour ” ) of this gift , God teaches us -in the passion of Jesus- to live in filial attitude towards Mary . Accepting Mary the disciple becomes son.
Not surprisingly, in his gospel, the Beloved Disciple presents Mary with some features that are different from the Synoptics. It stresses above all the story of the wedding at Cana, which expresses the conviction that Mary had a mediating role for Jesus to manifest his glory to the disciples. This event provided them with the initial experience of faith (Jn 2:11). This same narrative presents Mary as a woman sensitive to the needs of all. In her presence, the beloved disciple sees the tender motherhood of Mary, who observes the needs and at the same time seeks for solutions, because she cannot bear the sufferings of her children. Through this event, Mary is also seen as the “first apostle” of Jesus, inviting everyone to consider him as Master and Lord: “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:15). To accept Mary as our mother is to obey Jesus, to enter into a relationship of love with Him (cf. Jn 15:10).
Claret received and lived deeply this gift of Marian affiliation, and strove to embed it in the life of all believers. Referring to himself, he wrote: “Mary is my mother, my teacher, my godmother, my Directress and my all after Jesus” (Aut 5). In his prayer to her to grow in divine love and love of neighbour, he asks her to give him “hunger and thirst for love ” (Aut 447 ) , aware that she has in abundance; and in his apostolic mission he considers himself as “an arrow put into your powerful hand” to fight evil (Aut 270) .
What place occupies Mary in your everyday spirituality? Is your relationship with her purely sentimental, or provides an impetus to search harder the will of the Son and to work for the values of the Kingdom?