Preet Anupam Beck csc –
Readings: Heb 5: 7-9; Jn 19: 25-27
Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Mary stood at the foot of the Cross and watched her Son die. She experienced grief and sorrow but with that, she brought hope to all humanity.
The first reading tells that obedience is purified through suffering. Jesus in his obedience to the Father suffered and died on the Cross. The sufferings could not make Jesus disobey his
Father. He suffered to carry out the will and mission of the Father. The death of Jesus was not the end, but he rose from the dead. The cross of Jesus became the symbol of hope.
The Gospel reading presents the scene of Calvary. Jesus is in terrible pain; so is the heart of Mother Mary. Her heart is pierced with the sorrow watching her Son die. But she does not ask her Son to perform a miracle on the Cross. She accepts the suffering in her obedience to God.
So, we celebrate the Sorrow of Mother Mary because we are hopeful. St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans, that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and
character produces hope.
It is hard to live without sorrows, but we have hope with us. Let us not be sorrowful, but keep our eyes on the Cross which is our hope. Let us bring this hope into our lives and the lives of others.