15 September 2023 - Our Lady of Sorrows – homily for Friday of the 23rd week of ordinary time – Luke 2:33-35

Mary, you have been there before me.

You have been dismayed and shocked by terrible, unwanted news.

You have known fear, sadness, and worry about the future.

You have had to quiet the heart aching distress within you.

You did not give up hope.

You did not drown in a pool of self-pity.

You did not let disappointment and anger destroy your ability to love.

You placed your trust in God.

Woman of Compassion, Mother of Sorrows,

I draw inspiration from your journey.

I, too, can move through the pain of my present situation.

Your faith and courage lead me to my own.

       These words were written by Sister Joyce Rupp in her book My Sorrow Is Your Sorrow: Hope and Strength in Times of Suffering.  This meditation reflects upon Simeon’s prophecy to Mary: that a sword would pierce her heart. Mary knew sorrow from the life of her son Jesus, from her life of discipleship, from the love she had for Jesus at the very core of her being. Mary stood by Jesus in his joys and in his struggles, in his passion and in his sufferings on the cross when so many of his friends and disciples had abandoned him. All of us can relate to Mary on some level with the sorrows and struggles we have on our own journey. Perhaps the sorrow that a mother bears is one of the most difficult sorrows of all. For a mother to see her child go to prison, or to struggle without end with alcohol or drug addiction, or to see a child leave this world into eternal life while his mother is still here on this earth: those are very difficult sorrows for a mother to bear. As a priest, I have seen mothers endure such struggle and sorrow.  Some mothers struggle to put food on the table to feed their children, to try to give them every opportunity in life, but they fail to meet that goal, and so it brings them sorrow. We just observed the anniversary of the horrors of September 11th.  It hard to believe that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were more than 20 years ago this week. We can imagine Our Lady of Sorrows crying with us through our tragedies in life as we unite our feelings of sorrow with Mary’s motherly love. Mary can understand our feelings, our sorrows, our anguish, and our struggles. We approach Mary today as we commemorate her as Our Lady of Sorrows. We unite our prayers with her prayers, we unite our sufferings with her sufferings. And as our mother, Our Lady of Sorrows is there for us.