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V. We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You.
R. Because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.
I recently renewed my consecration to Our Lady this past month with the devotional 33 Days to Morning Glory. During those thirty-three days I was able to meet my Mother again. It reminds me of how Jesus met his mother during his passion. She has always been there for me just like she was there for Jesus. I know she is here with us now as well. But are we aware of her presence in our lives? It is through meeting Mary during my walk with Jesus to Calvary that I’ve been able to say I have her as a mother. When have you met Mary your Mother?
Has it been during suffering? Has it been in a joyous encounter, like when Mary and Elizabeth met each other during their pregnancies? I especially love Mary’s title, “Our Lady of Sorrows,” because it is in this devotion to Mary that we see not only her joy at being the Mother of God, but also all the sorrow that comes with that joy and how she perseveres through it.
We see this when she brings Jesus to the temple forty days after his birth. She and Joseph are there presenting Jesus to the prophet Simeon, when suddenly Simeon shouts out,
"Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also) that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed" Luke 2:33-35
Mary teaches us not to run away from the good, even though we see that there will be swords that will pierce our hearts.
There is a saying in Spanish:
No hay rosas, sin espinas (There are no roses without thorns).
Let us not be afraid to say yes to the good in our lives, even if it means there will be some suffering mingled with it. It is said that Our Lady grants seven graces to the souls that honor her daily by praying seven Hail Mary’s and meditating on her tears and sorrows (dolors). Just like the stations of the cross, a devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows is a beautiful way to cultivate a love for Jesus and for our Mother.
Another one of her seven sorrows is meeting Jesus on his way to be crucified. She was strong for him when he most needed her to be. During the passion she sees and feels all the ugliness, evil, and hatred of the world that is directed at her little boy. And do you know what? She doesn’t run away. She doesn’t say,
“This is too hard for me to see or bear, I’m leaving.”
No. She stays with Jesus until the very end, which is yet another sword that pierces her heart. She is at the foot of his cross when he takes his last breath.
In John’s Gospel we read,
“When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” John 19:26-27
Jesus is asking us to do what John, his beloved disciple, did at the cross: to take his mother into our home (heart). How can we say no? Mary loved more than any other mom could love. Why wouldn’t we want a mother like this?! As a woman who desires to be a mother one day, I hope and pray I can love as she did. I hope and pray that today, I can love all those in my life as she loves. God bless you sister.
Dear Jesus You go to die For very love of me; Let me bear you company; I wish to die with You. -Saint Alphonsus Liguori
