4th Sunday of Easter – 2025

Fr. Peter Robinson

Preached: May 11, 2025

* Sunday Missal: 60, Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation II

• As we celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend, our thoughts turn naturally to Mary, our spiritual Mother
  • We can rightly call her the “mother of all mothers”
• So, let me share a few thoughts with you about Mother Mary …

• 1^st, it was in Mary’s womb that God became one of us 
• But who is this God?
• William Lane Craig is a leading Christian philosopher and debater
• When debating with atheists, his technical description of God is this:
  • God is an infinite and personal being of maximal greatness
  • God is pure actuality (he “is”), he is unchanging, and he is not composed of metaphysical parts
  • He is, therefore, the ground of being itself
• Now, consider that God
  • Dwelling within the darkness and the confines of Mary’s womb — for 9 months
  • All the while (as the unborn Jesus), he is utterly dependent on Mary for every aspect of his human life
• Thanks to Google, here is a description of a prenatal baby within its mother’s body:
  • It has its own space capsule (amniotic sac)
  • It has its own lifeline (umbilical cord)
  • And it has its own root system (placenta) while in the womb
• In fact, scientists have discovered a phenomena known as “prenatal memory”
  • When unborn babies at 30-37 weeks of pregnancy were played (regularly) a certain TV theme song
  • They responded physically in the womb
  • And 2-4 days after birth, they still responded physically when they heard that particular tune

• No wonder St. Paul summed up this mystery of Jesus’ birth by writing:
  • “God sent forth his Son, born of a woman” (Gal 4:4)
• “Born of a woman” ⇢ that phrase reminds us that Jesus, our Saviour, became flesh and was revealed in the weakness of our human flesh
  • He entered this planet exactly the same way as you and me — via our mother
• St. Ambrose, writing in the late 300s AD, claimed that “Mary is the door through which Christ entered this world”

• 2^nd, Mother Mary always points us to Jesus 
• Do you remember what Mary’s last spoken words were in the NT?
  • Not her last appearance, chronologically-speaking, for we see here again and again in the Gospel narratives
  • But what were her last words?
• It was when Jesus and Mary were invited to a wedding in Cana, in Galilee (John 2:5)
  • Because the wine ran out, she told the servants to go to Jesus with their problem
  • Then she added, “Do whatever he tells you” ⇢ her last words
• Mary always points to Jesus
  • And she still says to you and me, “Do whatever he tells you”

• 3^rd, Mary is our spiritual mother
• While on the cross, as he breathed his last words:
  • Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved [John] standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother” (Joh 19:26-27).
• Our Church understands John in that setting, as representing ALL followers of Jesus
• So, with those words, Jesus appointed Mary the spiritual mother of all believers
  • Including you and me

• This past January, Pope Francis spoke about how Mary teaches us to treasure God’s presence in our lives
  • How she provides us with her maternal love, guidance, and intercession
  • How she also helps us to recognize Jesus’ love ⇢ through her maternal tenderness
• Remember: to whom does she always point? ⇢ to Jesus

• As we honour our earthly mothers on this special weekend
  • Let us also honour our spiritual Mother
• As Catholics we honour Mary, by appreciating her role in bringing Jesus into the world
  • We honour her because she always points to Jesus
  • We honour her role, by appreciating her guidance and protection of us, as we faithfully follow Jesus, her son