Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 3, 2026
May is the month of Mary. May is chosen for Mary's month because it is considered the most beautiful month of the year. In May flowers bloom and the world becomes warm and full of light. We honor Mary in this beautiful month.We Catholics honor Mary because the Bible honors Mary. She is the Mother of Jesus. According to the Gospel of Luke, she is full of grace and most blessed above all women, words that we use in our prayer, Hail Mary. In the same Gospel she is called Mother of the Lord. Based on these and other biblical affirmations, Catholic doctrine says that she was conceived and lived her whole life sinless and that she was assumed body and soul into heaven at the end of her earthly life.
But Biblical and doctrinal teaching do not fully explain Catholic devotion to Mary. We also have an emotional attachment to her, a feeling of love and trust. Of course, this also is based on Scripture. As Jesus was dying on the cross, he spoke to his Beloved Disciple and Mary, both of whom were at the cross. Jesus told the disciple, who represents us, "behold your mother". And he told Mary, "behold your son". Among the last words of Jesus on the cross was his entrustment of us to Mary and his invitation to us to accept Mary as our mother.
We are brothers and sisters of Jesus, so his mother is our mother. This is the at the heart of what we Catholics feel for Mary. Just as we love our earthly mothers, we love our mother in heaven. Just as our earthly mothers love us and do everything for us, loving us more than they love themselves, so Mary loves us with a mother's heart.
When I was in Catholic elementary school, each class would set up a "May altar" with her statue. Flowers were placed before the statue and the altar was decorated. I loved to peer into each classroom and see how each grade had honored our heavenly mother. Through the years, when I have faced hardships, I have found myself before Mary, begging her for prayers and feeling her love supporting me.
If your love for Mary has grown cool, May is a time to rekindle your love. Love for Mary never competes with love for Christ. Mary always directs us to Jesus. At the wedding at Cana, she told the servers, "do whatever he tells you", and that is Mary's message to us. Follow my Son! Do what my Son teaches!
Saint John's has a long history of devotion to Mary, the Immaculate Conception, because of our beautiful statue in the upper church and our grotto of our Lady of Lourdes in the lower church. I am edified as I see each day people come to light a candle and pour out their needs before the Mother of Jesus at the Lourdes grotto. The Lourdes grotto in the lower church is the most beloved spot at Saint John's.
This year, on Sunday May 24, the people of Holy Redeemer will process from Chinatown carrying a statue of Mary through the streets of Center City. And they will arrive at Saint John's as the 12:30 Mass is ending and we will all have a simple May crowning ceremony. Plan to join our devotions to Mary on May 24 after the 12:30 Mass.
