In our gospel passage today, we find Jesus praying in the presence of his disciples. Yet, as he speaks to the Father, he states plainly that he is no longer on earth, though they are. And he makes several references suggesting that he is really praying for his disciples in the evangelist John's congregation around the turn of the second century. For he prays for protection (from Roman persecution and the disdain of mainstream Jews). He also states that everyone hates his disciples, which fits John's timeframe.. And there is another laboured anti-Semitic swipe at "Judas." All are Johannine issues.
Let's see what Jesus prays for and what that may say to us. Let me preface by saying that the divine qualities he invokes in our God are, in fact, feminine traits. (Jesus broke the male-imaging barrier elsewhere, also, as when he spoke of God as being like a mother hen taking care of her chicks.) Recent research tells us that human imaging of the Divine was entirely, universally feminine until Judaism, when El/YHVH was seen as the greatest, and then finally the only, Deity. So his wife Ashterah was pitched out, consistent with the patriarchal Jewish mindset, as though God actually has gender and sexuality. (YHVH was so depicted as an angry male, bloodthirsty, jealous, a capricious tyrant greatly to be feared and not much to be loved. The Jewish Bible reminds us that the goddess Ashterah remained clandestinely popular amongst the ladyfolk. Not surprising!
First, Jesus prays for protection. We men think we are natural protectors and rightly so, but I know of no more fierce protector than a mother. Think of a person messing with grizzly bear cubs. Mistake! Our mothers protected us, Mary protects the Church, and we Christians have each other's backs. We protect, as God protects.
Second, Jesus prays for joy. Men are often focussed only on pleasure and on their immediate gratification. Women seems to focus on what is deeper and more profound. In the first line of her famous hymn, Our Lady sings, "my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour." Faith gave to my own mother a joy that I can't describe and which served her well through the vicissitudes of a very rough childhood and an often challenging adult life. Joy is the gift of God that gets us through.
Third, Jesus prays for the truth (to make us holy), just as Mary ponders all things in her heart. I believe that women have a special kind of nose that can detect a lie a mile away. One of my mother's mantras was "be sure your sin will find you out." And she whipped out those words whenever I got caught doing something I should not have, which was frequently. In the Our Gang comedies, Spanky liked to say, "You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool Mom."
Jesus, in fact, assures us elsewhere in the text, that Holy Mother Church will experience truth through progressive revelation, as the Holy Spirit guides her into all truth. If truth, as Jesus tells us today, is sanctifying, then there cannot be Christian revelation that contradicts science or reality. These must necessarily be in balance. I thank God we are in a tradition where we are open to new awareness and recently discovered truth, thus capable of incorporating the new with the old in our spiritual life. And we are in a tradition in which we can admit having been wrong and make a course-correction.
Fourth, Jesus prays for unity. Our Christian unity is formed in relationship -- relationships with one another and with God through Jesus Christ. Since Cana, the Blessed Virgin's consistent message is: Do what my Son says! Unlike us men, who typically find our centre in compettion, in aggression, and in the acquisition of power and control over others, women seem all about relationship, about building and strengthening those bonds on which the family and community depend. Women are masters of reconciliation and, as Saint Paul said, our is the ministry of reconciliation.
So ,let us thank God for all those mothers in whom we find protection, joy, truth, and unity. Their motherhood mirrors that of Mary --Mother of Jesus and Mother of the Church -- and ultimately the feminine attributes of God. Happy Mother's Day!
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