9/15/2011 – Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows – homily for Thursday of the 24th 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 heartaching 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 as a meditation on Simeon’s prophecy that a sword would pierce the heart of Mary.  Mary knew sorrow from the life of her son Jesus, from the life of discipleship that she led, from the love she had for him in the very core of her being.  She stood by Jesus as he suffered on the cross when so many of his disciples abandoned him.  We, also, have sorrows in our lives, and the sorrows that mothers bear are perhaps some 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 she is still on this earth.  For a mother to struggle to put food on the table to feed her children, to want to give them every opportunity in life, but failing to meet that goal.  We just observed the 10^th anniversary of 9/11; we can imagine Our Lady of Sorrows crying out at that tragedy, as we unite what we are feeling with her motherly love.  Mary can understand our feelings, our sorrows, our anguish, our struggles.  We approach Mary, and we unite our prayers with her prayers, we unite our sufferings with her sufferings.  And as our mother, she is there for us.