How do you face sufferings and trials? Do you give in to despair or do you find strength by looking at Mary? - Daily Reflections September 15,2014

A SORROWFUL — BUT NOT DEPRESSED —

MOTHER

 

Parents suffer from anything that could harm or hurt their children. Since Mary surely was a perfect mother, she must have suffered much in bringing up her beloved Son. We can assume that her suffering was even more intense than that of any parent because of her spiritual closeness to her Son. That God had entrusted to her His Son might have even intensified her suffering because of the profound responsibility she had for this great treasure. Mary also might have suffered much from what her Son went through because of her sinless nature, which made her more compassionate and sensitive to other people’s sufferings.

       Christian pious tradition identified and reflected on the seven great sorrows in Mary’s life — such as the flight to Egypt, the loss of her 12-yearold boy in Jerusalem, and meeting Jesus carrying the crossbeam towards the place of His execution, among others.

       One spiritual writer noticed that today’s feast celebrates the sorrowful Mother of Jesus, not the depressed Mother of Jesus. An interesting thought! John tells us in his Gospel that Mary was standing near the Cross of her Son. Although her suffering must have been close to unbearable, her faith gave her the courage and strength to bear this suffering without breaking down. Here, Mary becomes a great model to look up to when God allows crosses to burden and weigh us down.

       And so this feast is not just another memorial of Mary but it invites us to look up to her when sorrows and sufferings become too much to bear.

       With her example and her motherly intercession, we can and will be able to follow her footsteps and not break down but remain “standing” even in the darkest moments that may come. These moments then will not crush us but, with Mary’s help, become moments of passage into the light that waits beyond every cross. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: How do you face sufferings and trials? Do you give in to despair or do you find strength by looking at Mary?

 

Lord, thank You for giving me Your Mother as my model when problems and sufferings weigh me down. Through her intercession, may I not despair through the darkest times of my life.