9 June 2025 (Monday)
Mary, Mother of the Church on Monday of week 10 in Ordinary Time.
Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:
First Reading : Genesis 3:9‐15,20
Responsive Psalm : Psalm 86(87)
Of you are told glorious things, O city of God!
On the holy mountain is his city cherished by the Lord. The Lord prefers the gates of Zion to all Jacob’s dwellings.
Of you are told glorious things, O city of God!
Of you are told glorious things, O city of God! ‘Zion shall be called “Mother” for all shall be her children.’
Of you are told glorious things, O city of God!
It is he, the Lord Most High, who gives each his place. In his register of peoples he writes: ‘These are her children,’ and while they dance they will sing: ‘In you all find their home.’
Of you are told glorious things, O city of God!
Gospel : John 19:25‐34
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home. After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed, and to fulfil the scripture perfectly he said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of vinegar stood there, so putting a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the vinegar he said, ‘It is accomplished’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit. It was Preparation Day, and to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath – since that sabbath was a day of special solemnity – the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. When they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.
Ordinary Weekday/ Saint Ephrem of Syria, Deacon, Doctor (Tenth Week in Ordinary Time)
First Reading: Second Corinthians 1: 1-7
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother: to the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints that are in all Achaia: Grace unto you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. Who comforteth us in all our tribulation; that we also may be able to comfort them who are in all distress, by the exhortation wherewith we also are exhorted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us: so also by Christ doth our comfort abound. Now whether we be in tribulation, it is for your exhortation and salvation: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation: or whether we be exhorted, it is for your exhortation and salvation, which worketh the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. That our hope for you may be steadfast: knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in my mouth. In the Lord shall my soul be praised: let the meek hear and rejoice.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
O magnify the Lord with me; and let us extol his name together. I sought the Lord, and he heard me; and he delivered me from all my troubles.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Come ye to him and be enlightened: and your faces shall not be confounded. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him: and saved him out of all his troubles.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him: and shall deliver them. O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Gospel: Matthew 5: 1-12
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him. And opening his mouth, he taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.
For our reflection today:
At the very moment when he was consummating his sacrifice, Jesus said to his mother those fundamental words: ‘Woman, behold your son’, and to the disciple: ‘Behold your mother’ (Jn 19:26-27). And the Evangelist notes that, having spoken them, Jesus was aware that all was accomplished. The gift of the Mother was the final gift that he granted to humanity as the fruit of his sacrifice. It is therefore a gesture intended to crown the redemptive work. By asking Mary to treat the beloved disciple as her son, Jesus invites her to accept the sacrifice of his death, and, as the price for this acceptance, he invites her to assume a new motherhood. Furthermore, by giving this motherhood an individual form, Jesus manifests his will to make Mary not simply the mother of all his disciples, but of each of them in particular, as if she were his only son, who takes the place of his only Son. (Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 11 May 1983)
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