Scripture for Your Inner Outcasts

Transcript

Speaker 1: Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

Speaker 2: Welcome back to Scripture for your inner outcasts. Today is May 25th, 2026, the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today we are joined by clinical psychologist Doctor Peter Malinowski, the co-founder and President of Souls and Hearts, and host of our sister podcast, Interior Integration for Catholics.

Speaker 1: Okay, dear exiles, it is May 25th, the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of the church. And I want to focus in on our gospel today, especially for you exiles who are struggling with some kind of mother wound or mother deprivation, something missing in the mothering that you received, something that you didn't receive from a mother yet. Saint John tells us in our gospel chapter 19, verses 25 to 27, standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. Now, if you were reading this at a very superficial level, dear exiles, you might conclude. Okay, well, that's nice for Saint John. He got a mother out of the deal. But that wasn't for me. It wasn't for us. The church has historically understood that as Mary becoming the mother of the church. That's our feast day today. Our memorial today. And that doesn't mean that she's just the mother of some great big abstract system. That means that she's the mother of each of us. Vatican two and Lumen Gentium, paragraph 61. Wherefore the Blessed Virgin Mary is our mother in the order of grace.

Speaker 1: And if we go to the memorial of the holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the prayers it says, O God, whose son, dying on the altar of the cross, willed that the most blessed Virgin Mary, whom he had chosen as his mother, should be our mother also. Graciously grant, we pray that we who fly to our protection may find comfort by invoking our mother's name. Okay, now, when you're a mother, you're the mother of all of your little beloved daughter or little beloved son. Not just certain parts. Not just the quote, acceptable bits, end quote. But all of the little daughter or little son doesn't leave anything out. It's not like a mother could say, well, I'm the mother of yes, this, this boy is, well, really just his two arms and his one leg. I'm not really the mother of his bad leg in quotes. No, that wouldn't make any sense. There's a holistic aspect to this. There's a unity to the person that you, as a beloved little exile, are a part of. That's often really hard for Uxos to grip on to, though, because it can seem like, well, where has she been? Where has my mother been? So a couple of things with that. First of all, would you be open to experiencing Mary as your mother sometimes, you know, parts don't know that that's a possibility.

Speaker 1: And not only is it a possibility, it's what we're invited to. It's part of our identity. Our adoption by God includes this adoption by the Blessed Virgin Mary to be her beloved little children in the Catholic Church. Can we be open to that, or is that too frightening? Because sometimes parts shy away. It's out of fear, I get it. Or maybe other parts haven't wanted you to have a seat at the table. Haven't wanted you to meet the Blessed Virgin Mary yet. Maybe they thought that you weren't good enough, or that you weren't acceptable enough. That you weren't. Um. I don't know even what the word would be. That you wouldn't be welcomed by her. But if that's the case, they're wrong. Because a mother like the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her perfection, in her immaculate conception, in her perfection, she loves all of you, just like the most perfect mother could, because she is that most perfect mother. God knew that there would be limitations in our earthly mothers. He knew that there would be deficits. He knew that there would be sins. He knew that there would be failings, weaknesses, imperfections of all kinds. He had a plan for all of that to be made up in your relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Can we trust in that? Well, how does that land with you exiles?

Speaker 2: If you're enjoying the content of this podcast, then the Resilient Catholics community might be a good fit for you. We're open to new members only three times a year, and the June cohort is going to open up right around the corner in preparation for the June cohort, which is named after Saint Mary Magdalene. We will be hosting an informational meeting on Tuesday, May 26th, 2026 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time. There's a link to join the Zoom in the description of today's show. And if you can't make it live, there will be a recording posted for you to view.

Speaker 1: Our lady, Our Mother, Untier of knots. Pray for us, Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint John the Baptist pray for us.