In The Face of Sorrow

Following upon the majestic feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Church today remembers Mary at the foot of the cross as one of the blades of sorrow predicted by Simeon at the circumcision of Jesus  pierced her heart. (cf. Lk 2:34-35).  As the first and foremost disiple of Jesus, she took up her Son's injunction to "take up the cross and follow him" and without shedding a drop of blood, won the martyr's crown.  "Come, all who pass by the way, look and see whether there is any suffering like my suffering" (Lamentations 1:12).  Her obedience not only leads us to Jesus, but gives us courage to face the inevitable sorrows in our own lives.  Especially at this time of remembering the sorrows incurred on 9/11, Mary's sufferings as mother losing a child, are even more poignant.  If not by death, there are many mother's who mourn the "loss of a child" through the choices they have made, and stand by helplessly at the foot of their crosses as Mary did. Or there are the sorrows attached to the illnesses of loved ones, children, siblings, parents.  There is no escape from sorrow in "this vale of tears", but thanks to Jesus' gift of Mary to us, "Behold your Mother", we have the courage and strength to endure them.  The letter to the Hebrews reminds us, "You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised." (Heb 10: 36).  Through the intercession of Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, by uniting our sufferings with hers and those of Jesus, may we bear saving fruit in Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bro. Rene