Sorrow

Christ be with you brothers and sisters! I apologize for the lack of blogging lately, but I have been away at a Matthew Kelly Retreat trying to work on "becoming the best version of myself." (for more information visit: http://www.matthewkelly.org).

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

First Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:17-26, 33
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 40
Gospel: John 19:25-27


In today's gospel we are given a glimpse of the great sorrow of our Blessed mother. We can only imagine what it was like for her to be there at the cross to witness what her son was going through. Mary knew that day would come, and there she stood at her sons feet during His suffering...all for us. in this moment, Jesus looks down at his mother and the disciple that he loved, he says to Mary, "Woman, here is your son." Then he says to the disciple, "Here is your mother." While many of us may not realize it, this passage has a lot of significance. It not only shows the importance of Mary in salvation history, but it also shows her importance in each of our lives.

I think the best interpretation of this passage comes from Father Oscar Lukefahr in his book "Christ's Mother and Our: A Catholic Guide to Mary." Here is the excerpt from this book:

"On the surface, this may appear to be an instance of a dying son looking after his mother. But because, in John's gospel, the disciple whom Jesus loves represents all believers, and because Jesus calls Mary "Woman," John clearly invites us to look for a deeper meaning...At this moment, Jesus assigns Mary a special relationship to those he has redeemed. The first woman was called Eve because she was "mother of all living." Mary now becomes the new Eve because she is the Mother of all believers. If we are Christ's beloved disciples, Mary is our Mother, and Jesus wants us to take her into our own home."

Here we are given our mother. A mother who loves us, and wants us to know and love her son as she does. She knows Jesus better than any of us, shouldn't we trust her perspective and insight? Shouldn't we allow the mother of Christ to help us know Him better?

Christ does not ever leave us out to dry or in a situation that we have to manage alone. Think about it here, while he was dying on the cross for us, for our sins; He was still thinking of us when He looked down to give us another way to Him. Let us constantly ask for our Mother Mary's intercessions in coming closer to and getting to know our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit: as it was int eh beginning, is now and ever shall be a world without end. Amen.