SUFFERING MOTHER ~ CookingFood.Org

“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”

Daily Reflections

Friday, 15^thSeptember 2017,

Twenty Third Week in Ordinary Time

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

1 Tim 1:1-2, 12-14 (Ordinary) or Heb 5: 7-9 (Proper);

Ps 30: 2-6, 15-16, 20;

Jn 19: 25-27, 35 or Lk 2: 33-35 (Proper)

SUFFERING MOTHER

We remember today the sorrows of our Blessed Mother Mary. The sorrow of Mary was a deep sorrow. Mary was a perfect human person because she never sinned, but this does not mean that we should imagine her as an unfeeling person, occupying unearthly realms. Because of her perfection, she loved more deeply than we can. Because of this love, she felt the pain of loss more acutely than we do. The sorrow of Mary, unlike our own, was pure. Our own sorrows are always mixed up with selfishness. Mary did not mourn because her Son would not be around to support her. She mourned because she saw the suffering of the one she loved, and she felt his pain and sorrow as acutely as he felt it himself. We can only imagine how Jesus felt seeing his mother in sorrow. Surely it caused him some pain, but it also was a great support. The rest of the world might be cruel and selfish, but the face of his mother was the one place he could rest his eyes, seeing in her the image and likeness that he had put in us when he created us.

Mother Mary loved her Son Jesus with the perfect love of a mother. Her love drew her to be present to Jesus in His own Cross and sufferings. Her suffering was not one of despair, it was a suffering of love. Her sorrow was not a sadness; rather, it was a profound sharing in all that Jesus endured. Her heart was perfectly united with her Son’s and, therefore, she endured all that He endured. This is true love on the deepest and most beautiful level.

On this memorial of her Sorrowful Heart, we are called to live in union with the Blessed Mother’s sorrow. As we love her, we find ourselves feeling the same pain and suffering her heart still experiences as a result of the sins of the world. Those sins, including our own sins, are what nailed her Son to the Cross. When we love our Blessed Mother and her Son Jesus, we will also grieve over sin; first our own and then the sins of others. Reflect, today, upon the perfect love of the heart of our Blessed Mother. That love is capable of rising above all suffering and pain and is the same love God wants to place in your heart.

Prayer: Lord, help me to love with the love of Your dear Mother. Help me to feel the same holy sorrow she felt and to allow that holy sorrow to deepen my concern and compassion for all those who suffer. Jesus, I trust in You. Mother Mary, pray for us. Amen.