Gospel (Jn 19,25-34) - At that time, there were near the cross of Jesus his mother, his mother's sister, Mary mother of Cleopas and Mary Magdalene. Jesus then, seeing her mother and the disciple whom he loved next to her, said to her mother: "Woman, here is your son!". Then he said to the disciple: "Behold your mother!". And from that hour the disciple welcomed her with him.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

After celebrating the great feast of Pentecost, which marked the beginning of the history of the Church in the world, the liturgy invites us to contemplate Mary with the title of mother of the Church. We could say that this motherhood already appears evident under the cross, when Jesus himself says to Mary: "Woman, behold your son" and to the disciple: "Behold your mother". These words of Jesus speak to our lives, to each of us who are so easily pushed to be safe, to avoid problems, to ward off suffering and not to face the challenge of evil. Mary, perhaps, on that day understood the truth of the words that Simeon had addressed to her: "A sword will pierce your soul too" (Lk 2:35), just as the spear had pierced Jesus' side. One could say instead of wherever a community of disciples is formed under the cross, a sign of all human suffering, there is the Church. We must stand and pause on the many ordeals of the world, next to many crucifixes, to receive the consolation of finding a mother and a son, to have brothers and sisters, who do not abandon and do not leave us alone. “And from that hour – says the Gospel – the disciple welcomed her with him”. Taking the mother of Jesus into your home, into your heart means being with her under the many crosses of the world as a sign of hope and the beginning of a new life, of a new family being formed. The icon of the crucifixion, with Mary and John under the cross, becomes the model of the Church, of every Christian community.