On September 15th we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
It is good for us to remember that despite the fact that our Blessed
Mother had some extraordinary privileges, for example, being immaculately conceived, being
the Mother of God, etc., she still had a number of trials, problems, and sufferings ... many of which were
very severe.
People of the Old Testament (and sometimes in our own day) held that, if
a person suffered great hardships, it was because they had sinned against God. This idea is
contradicted by the story of Job and, of course, our Blessed Mother, who was not only immaculately conceived, but never committed the slightest offense against God. She never said “No!” to God ... ever!!!!
It would be true to say that suffering is the result of sin, that is,
Original Sin. God never intended that human beings should die, get sick, or even earn bread by the sweat of
their brow. It was the disobedience of Adam and Eve that brought sin into the human arena and with
sin all of the effects of sin.
However, we see that our Blessed Mother, despite her perfect obedience,
her perfect sinlessness, (a grace obtained for her by her Son’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection)
suffered many trials and heartbreaks. She had to leave her native land and flee to Egypt to save the
life of her Son; Jesus was “lost” for three days; she felt the hatred of others for Jesus; she endured
unspeakable suffering in watching Jesus endure His Passion and Death.
Suffering afflicts everyone on this earth. No one is exempt. No one
escapes it, even the very holy. Jesus Himself, Who is the Holy of Holies, suffered greatly.
Since suffering is endured by each of us, it behooves us to strive to
carry our crosses the way a Christian should. In Scripture we never witness Jesus murmuring, grumbling,
complaining about what He had to suffer. We do not see Him lashing out at others, taking revenge on
others, calling anyone names, wishing anyone harm. He not only endured all with great patience, He
endured all with great love. He appreciated the smallest kindness shown to Him, He prayed for those
who caused Him suffering. He blessed. He did not curse His enemies.
Like Father, like Son! Like Mother, like Son! Like Son, like Mother!
Our Blessed Mother suffered like Jesus with patience, love, appreciation for the slightest
kindness, with prayer, with kindness for others. In so doing her suffering brought her closer to God because it
is in trials that our virtue is truly tested. In Heaven we shall learn, also, to what extent her suffering
contributed to the salvation of souls.
We all know that the greatest evil is sin, but the next greatest evil is
not suffering ... it is WASTED suffering.
Every day in our morning offering, let us united all of our sufferings of
the day with Our Lord’s sufferings (through Mary). That way our sufferings, too, will be meritorious
for our own salvation and the salvation of others. And let us try to imitate Jesus and His Mother ...
our Mother in the way They handled their sufferings.
God bless you!