It seems to me no mere coincidence
that today’s celebration of Our Lady of Sorrows
should follow the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
For the Cross we honor and venerate
was at once the instrument of our salvation
and the sword of sorrow which pierced Mary’s heart.
The Seven Sorrows of Mary…
The Presentation of Jesus
The Flight into Egypt
Jesus being lost in Jerusalem
Meeting Jesus on the Way to Calvary
The Crucifixion
The Deposition of Jesus’ Body from the Cross
And His Burial
…were at one time commemorated by two feasts.
The other was celebrated on the Friday of Passion Week,
the week before Holy Week in the liturgical calendar before 1969.
That feast…
which particularly commemorated the sorrow of Mary
at the foot of the Cross…
was also known as the Feast of the Compassion of Mary.
How fitting a name…
since Mary surely suffered with her Son…
compassio of course meaning to “suffer with.”
As the Stabat Mater proclaims…
Mary not only beheld His pangs…
she was wounded with His every wound.
As Mary saw her only son being ridiculed…tortured…and crucified…
in the midst of unimaginable sorrow for a mother to bear…
and terrible pain for her only Son…
Mary trusted in the promise of the Resurrection.
The Gospel tells us that Mary stood at the foot of the Cross…
Stabat mater juxta crucem.
Mary stood firm.
She trusted through it all…
and now she stands for us as an model of trust and fidelity
in times of sorrow.
As she trusted that the Cross would not end in death…
but in the glory of the Resurrection…
so we can have faith that the sorrows of this life are not the final word.
The sorrow and the suffering of the Cross was the cause of our salvation…
so the sorrow we endure in this life is not without meaning.
Though we may not see the value of our sorrows…
and of uniting them with the sufferings of Christ… as we are called to do… in this life… we trust that we shall see it in heaven,
where we shall be in sorrow no more.
Each of us has experienced sorrow in one way or another.
The death of parents, grandparents, relatives or friends.
People we know and love moving away.
Our lives changing as we move from seminary into a life of ministry.
Separation…transition…different kinds of “goodbyes.”
Great sorrows and little ones…
all of which are a natural part of life.
As the scene of Mary at the foot of the Cross shows us so clearly…
real love often means enduring sorrow.
When we really give ourselves in love…
and then experience loss or change or grief…
it can really…deeply…hurt.
Mary speaks to us: hold on, stand firm…
God’s unending love will triumph even over sin and death.
Meditating on Mary’s sorrows can help us more fully understand our own.
As we approach to receive the Body of Jesus, the Son of our Sorrowful Mother…
may our prayer this day be a heartfelt plea
for the grace and the courage to endure our sorrows as Mary did…
with trust in God’s power to heal and save…
and with hope in the heavenly reward promised to good and faithful servants.
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