The Seven Last Words of Jesus from the Cross - Part 3: The Third Word

“Woman, here is your son... Son, here is your mother.” John 19:26-27

Many years ago, I went to Las Vegas with my family. While I was there, I told my husband: “This is what Hell must be like.” First of all, it was the month of July, and it was so hot that I could hardly breathe. It was suffocating. Then, there was the gambling. The clinking sound of the slot machines became the backdrop to everything we did. In order to enter any hotel, we had to cross through the casino. Even when we were eating, the casino was right there, so we ate to the whir of spinning reels accompanied by loud beeps and chimes. And last, but not least, there was pornography everywhere we walked. The minute we stepped onto the sidewalk, my husband was bombarded with flyers featuring erotic images. It did not matter to the people handing them out that he was there with his wife, three small children, and his in-laws. All they cared about was advertising their product. Now, when I think of Hell, I think of a place that is hot like an oven, filled with annoying noises, pornographic pamphlets everywhere, and the nauseating odor of alcohol and cigarettes lingering in the air.

The third sentence that Jesus speaks from the cross, “Woman, here is your son... Son, here is your mother” (John 19:26-27) was in reparation for the sin of lust. For a long time, I wondered about this association. How could these simple words possibly atone for lust? I had a hard time understanding the connection until I read Venerable Fulton J. Sheen’s book, “The Seven Capital Sins.” In his book, Venerable Sheen explains that Jesus’ relationship with His mother and His best friend were the last strings holding Him to the world. He had to cut the umbilical cord from His mother, and He had to release the bond of friendship tying Him to His disciple, the only one that stayed with Him to the very end. When lust is our root sin, we feel an inordinate love for someone or something. The key word here is “inordinate.” When we feel lust, we become so attached to someone or something that we cannot let go. This love is so excessive that it borders on blindness. It is such a powerful sin that it blinds our minds to the point that we become so dependent on this person or thing that we begin to idolize them. Even though Jesus was without sin, He knew that we humans would struggle with this inordinate form of love, and thus, He released His mother into the hands of His best friend, and by doing so, He taught us how to break the ties that hold us captive. The solution to conquering the sin of lust is very simple. We have to find something or someone higher to love than the very thing or person that we idolize. And Jesus shows us where to find this. We can find it on the Cross (Christ) and beneath it (His Mother, Mary).

From the cross, Jesus bestows upon Mary the role and title of universal motherhood. From that moment forward, she is not only His mother, but also the mother of all humanity. Like John, we become her children at the cross. Mary becomes our mother the moment she loses her Divine Son. When Jesus releases His mother to us, He asks Mary to love us as much as she loves Him, and as much as He loves us. And, in a way, it is this process of release, grief, and sorrow that allows Mary to give birth to us at the foot of the cross. Venerable Sheen writes, “The bitterness of Eve's curse-that woman would bring forth children in sorrow-was now fulfilled, and not by the opening of a womb but by the piercing of a heart, as Simeon had foretold. Our Blessed Mother would have to experience the labor pains of Calvary in order to give birth to us”(1). If giving birth to Jesus in a stable was difficult, imagine what Mary had to go through to give birth to humankind.

For human beings, the sin of lust is one of the hardest to battle, mostly because it can be totally invisible to others. It's all inside our heads. We can indulge in pornography in secret, to the point that it can become an obsession. When it does, lust can bring destruction into our lives, into our marriages, and into our families. Lust is a silent enemy that is slowly but surely destroying our society. We need to do whatever is necessary in order to avoid the temptation. God doesn't expect us to tear out our eyes, but we need to be radical to avoid falling into temptation and win the war against lust, even if it means never visiting Vegas again.

Copyright © 2026 Christy Romero. All rights reserved. If you thought of someone while reading this, bless them by sharing it with them.

Fulton J. Sheen, “Life of Christ,” (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958), pg 549.