Year C

June 9, 2025

On this page you will find:

The readings for Mass, the Mass leaflet with the choice of hymns
A sample universal prayer available for download , in PDF and editable Word formats.
A meditation on the Sunday Gospel , a spiritual text and a commentary by Marie-Noëlle Thabut

Whit Monday

Blessed Virgin Mary

Mother of the Church

Jesus, seeing his mother,
and near her was the disciple whom he loved,
he said to his mother:
"Woman, here is your son."
Then he said to the disciple:
"This is your mother."

And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

John 19:26-27

Readings from the Mass

https://www.aelf.org/2025-06-09/romain/messe

Mass leaflet

Universal Prayer

Lectio Divina
Consult this page for a prayerful preparation for the liturgy and then read the meditations below.

MEDITATION

In suffering, we yearn for solidarity. Mary, the mother, reminds us of the love, support, and solidarity of the family; John, of fidelity. Family cohesion, community bonds, and the bonds of friendship are essential for human development. In an impersonal society, they lose their strength. When they are lacking, our humanity is weakened.

Furthermore, in Mary, we find not the slightest sign of resentment, nor a word of bitterness. The Virgin becomes the archetype of forgiveness in faith and hope. She shows us the way to the future. Those who would also like to respond to violent injustice with "violent justice" know that this response is not the solution. Forgiveness gives rise to hope.

There are also historical offenses that can wound the memory of societies for centuries. If we do not transform our collective anger into new energies of love through forgiveness, we will perish. When healing comes through forgiveness, we light a lamp that heralds new possibilities for "life and peace" for humanity (cf. Mal 2:5).

Married

The disciple whom Jesus loved has no name.

It's you. It's me.

It is each of us that John names in this way, because each one is preferred by God.

It is you, it is me, it is each one who is at the hour of the last supper close to Jesus (cf. Jn 13, 23) and at the hour of his death close to his mother (cf. Jn 19, 26) .

And it is to each of us that he entrusts it,

She, the woman who believed.

Then, “it is finished” (Jn 19:30) .

Through her only Son, Mary remains forever the young mother of all the sons of God.

Through the cross of the only Son, she is immaculate, to show us what we, like her, are called to: to live with God, safe, purified from that which kills.

You who are reading this, you who, whatever your life may be, are the beloved disciple of the Lord, take good care of this Spirit which he has placed in your hands, and be sure that Mary, your blood sister, the first beloved of the Lord, will help you.

Feel free to take it home with you.

Anne Lécu, op

Anne Lécu, a Dominican nun, holds doctorates in philosophy and medicine, which she practices in a prison setting. / Sign in the Bible, Paris, Éditions du Cerf, 2015, p. 93.

Better understanding the Gospel
with Marie-Noëlle Thabut