9/15/2012 – Saturday of 23rd week in ordinary time – Our Lady of the Sorrows – John 19:25-27

         We ascribe different names & attributes to Mary, attesting to her importance in our faith & in the history of salvation.  The feast honoring as the Sorrowful Mother go back to the 15^th and 17^th centuries, when there were two feasts honoring the Sorrowful Mother that were added to our Church's liturgical calendar.  Today, we honor Mary as our Sorrowful Mother on this feast each year on September 15^th.

         In our Gospel reading from John today, we hear about Mary as she stood by her son while he was on the cross.  We cannot even imagine the sorrow that Mary felt in her heart as she was there with her son while he was on the cross.  This fulfills the prediction Simeon made about a sword piercing Mary's heart.

         St. Ambrose and many of the early Church fathers saw Mary as a sorrowful yet powerful figure as she stood by Jesus courageously during his journey to the cross while many of his other followers abandoned him out of fear.  Mary's heart was touched as she saw the wounds of her Son, yet in those wounds, she also saw the salvation of our world.  In that moment at the cross, Mary was given to us as our Mother and the Mother of the Church.  As I think of Mary as Our Lady of the Sorrows, I think of the many mothers and grandmothers I have in my parish who have lost children and grandchildren, how their love and their sorrows are united with Mary as Our Lady of the Sorrows.  May we never fail to reach out to Mary in our struggles and in our sorrow – may we gain strength in our faith from our relationship with her.