Seven Last Words—
Woman behold your son

Widening the Circle

By John Bethel

“Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother. John 19:26-27  

I’ll never forget the funeral of a prominent member of a parish where I used to serve. He had been on my discernment committee and had done much good with his long life. (Once I asked him to tell me about the time he met the Pope. “Sure; which one?” was his reply.) He and his wife had had no children, and there was a strong desire within the parish to make sure she wouldn’t be left forgotten.

Toward the end of his sermon, the rector asked the woman to stand up and face the congregation as he addressed us both: “Mother, behold your children. Church, behold your mother.”

I began to understand the fathomless binding power of the waters of baptism. I watched what it meant for Paul to say there is one one faith, one hope, one God and Father of us all. The parish rose to the occasion and truly adopted this woman as its mother.

This Lent, I wonder if there’s someone in our parish who needs to be adopted as our mother or father. Who has the Lord entrusted to our care? At baptisms, we are asked if we “who witness these vows” will do all in our power to support the newest members of our family.

Maybe we can widen the circle a little bit here. What if someone told you that your father was sleeping in his car, or that your sister had her power turned off? As a Christian who has promised to respect the dignity of every human being, your father indeed is sleeping in a lot somewhere and your sister is trying to get by without heat.

Behold your mother.
Behold your father.
Behold your sister.
Behold Christ.