MORE than 2000 years ago today in faraway Golgotha, or Calvary as it was also called, a mother watched from a distance in anguish and silence as her only child, her son, drew his last breath.

It must have been painful for her to bear, as not only was he nailed and spread-eagled, to a rough-hewn cross, but he was also made to endure unspeakable things.

For one, they made him fetch his own cross, gave him wine mixed with gall to drink when he was thirsty, and was made to wear a crown of thorns as they hurled all sorts of invectives at him.
They even spat on him on occasion, and beat him to a pulp. And to make certain he was indeed dead, rather than break his feet as was the custom back then, they prodded him in his sides with their spears, drawing even more blood on top of what he had already lost.
Through it all, he uttered not a word of complaint, except for the final hour when the pain was more than him and he cried out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Then, just before he gave up the ghost, he was heard saying, “It is finished.”
It is something his mother had known all along would one day happen, even before he was conceived, for an angel had told her during a visitation one night that she would have a son; that his name would be Jesus; that he would perform untold miracles; that he would be a great man and rule over all the Earth.
But alas, he would be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice to save Mankind from sin. So, no doubt, she would have had all the time in the world to steel herself for this day. And gird herself she did over the 30 or so years he lived, showing a resilience as only a mother can, even though he would spurn her time and again as he went about his father’s business as foretold. But still she persisted, right up to the very end, as she was there at the foot of the cross on hilly Golgotha, just outside today’s Jerusalem, when he died, and again at the sepulchre in which he was buried when he arose three days later.
On the day of crucifixion, the Bible tells us, as Jesus’s eyes wandered over the multitude that had collected together to witness His death, he saw at the foot of the cross John supporting his mother. She had returned to the terrible scene, not being able to longer stay away from her son. The last lesson of Jesus was one of filial love. He looked upon the grief-stricken face of his mother, and then upon John, and said: “Woman, behold thy son!”

John well understood the words of Jesus, and the sacred trust which was committed to him. He immediately removed the mother of Christ from the fearful scene of Calvary, and from that hour, he cared for her as would a dutiful son, taking her to his own home. The perfect example of Christ’s filial love shines forth with undimmed lustre from the mist of ages.

Today, mothers the world over are still weeping; weeping for the sons and daughters they have lost in the perennial battle of good over evil. And the one comforting thought for some is that they would have given them a proper upbringing; brought them up in the fear of the Lord so that they may know right from wrong.

And so, as we celebrate the unique bond between mother and child on this Good Friday, let’s spare a thought for those women out there, especially here in Guyana, who may still be hurting over the loss of an offspring, like Jesus’s mother did all those many years ago.