Eastertide #25: The Apostle Paul and Mother’s Day.
She
has been a mother to me.
(Romans 16:13)
“Greet Rufus,” Paul writes to the Romans, “and greet Rufus’
mother who has been a mother to me, also.” This greeting addressed to Rufus and
his mom is found in a list of Paul’s friends and colleagues at the end of his
Letter to the Romans. The list begins with a special greeting for Priscilla and
the church that gathers in her home. Paul writes to inform the churches of
Italy about his plans to visit them and then to be sent on by them as a
missionary to Spain.
It seems Rufus is something of a celebrity among the Italian
congregations that receive the Letter. He is so well known, that The Gospel of
Mark describes the man who carried Jesus’ cross as “the father of Rufus” (Mk 15:21). Tradition has it that Mark wrote
his Gospel from the eyewitness accounts of Peter while Peter served in Rome as
the Apostolic Leader to the congregations of Italy. So, when Mark tells us
about Simon of Cyrene, he adds something like, “Do you know who he is? He is
the father of our dear brother in the Lord, Rufus.” The congregations of Italy know who Rufus is.
Rufus and his mom worship and serve among them—maybe in the church that meets
in Priscilla’s home. Maybe the same church from which we get the Book of
Hebrews (Hb 13:24).
If we were to visit Priscilla’s church; someone might lean
over and whisper, “See that young man over there? His dad carried the cross of
Jesus up the hill of Golgotha. And, see that elegant older woman over there,
that’s Rufus’ mom; and, some years back, the Apostle Paul lived with them and
she became like a mother to Paul. Word has it that the Apostle himself will
soon be visiting us.”
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