Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 09-15-05, Memorial, Our Lady of Sorrows

September 15, 2005
Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

Psalm: Thursday 40

Reading I
1 Tm 4:12-16

Beloved:
Let no one have contempt for your youth,
but set an example for those who believe,
in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.
Until I arrive, attend to the reading, exhortation, and teaching.
Do not neglect the gift you have,
which was conferred on you through the prophetic word
with the imposition of hands by the presbyterate.
Be diligent in these matters, be absorbed in them,
so that your progress may be evident to everyone.
Attend to yourself and to your teaching;
persevere in both tasks,
for by doing so you will save
both yourself and those who listen to you.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 111:7-8, 9, 10

R. (2) How great are the works of the Lord!
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.
R. How great are the works of the Lord!
He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
R. How great are the works of the Lord!
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
prudent are all who live by it.
His praise endures forever.
R. How great are the works of the Lord!

Gospel
Jn 19:25-27

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

or

Lk 2:33-35

Jesus’ father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
and you yourself a sword will pierce
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

From: 1 Timothy 4:12-16

Pastoral Advice to Timothy

[12] Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in
speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. [13] Till I come,
attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching.
[14] Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophetic
utterance when the elders laid their hands upon you. [15] Practise
these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your
progress. [16] Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; hold to
that, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Commentary:

12-13. A good minister should be a model of virtue. Timothy was
obviously very young for the office he held; the Apostle therefore
keeps telling him that he must give good example because virtues give a
person more experience than age does.

"Reading, preaching, teaching": all three were done at the liturgical
assemblies of the early Christians (and continue to be done during the
Liturgy of the Word at Mass): some texts of Sacred Scripture were read
and then the minister gave a homily which would have included some
words of encouragement and some doctrinal instruction.

14. The gift referred to here is that of the sacrament of Order: it is
a permanent gift ("the gift you have") from God, bestowed by an
external rite consisting of liturgical prayer and the laying on of
hands. This interpretation is derived from the context: the "gift"
(charism) is indelible (Timothy may neglect it but he can never lose
it); therefore, it does not refer to sanctifying grace but to the
priestly "character" or mark which the sacrament imprints along with
the grace of the sacrament itself.

The "prophetic utterances", which in the New Testament means "public
teachings (cf. note on 1 Tim 1 18-19) or words spoken in God's name,
here refers to the prayers used in the ordination rite.

The "laying on of hands" is another technical expression. Jesus used
this gesture many times (cf. Mt 9:18-19, 19:15; Mk 6:5; 7:32; 8:23-25;
16:8; Lk 4:40; 13:13); the Apostles used it as a rite for bringing down
the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17; 19:6). Here, as elsewhere in these letters,
the laying on of hands is the rite of priestly ordination (cf. 1 Tim
5:22; 2 Tim 1:6), whereby the mission and powers of the person
performing the rite are passed on, thereby ensuring continuity of
priesthood. In 2 Timothy 1:6, a parallel text, it says "through the
laying on of my hands"; whereas here it says "when the elders laid
their hands on you". The participles "through" and "when" imply that
the action of imposition of hands is an essential part of the
sacrament.

The Church has preserved intact the essential elements of the sacrament
of Order--the laying on of hands and the consecrating words of the
bishop (cf. Paul VI, Apost. Const. "Pontificalis Romani Recognitio", 18
July 1968).

15-16. As well as being mindful of his grace of ordination, the
Christian minister must remain true to his obligations: "Take heed to
yourself". Although the calling to Church office does not demand
exceptional qualities in the candidate, he still needs to be exemplary
and to put special effort into developing virtues or else his ministry
will not be nearly as productive as it might be. "Apostolic soul: first
of all, yourself. Our Lord has said, through St Matthew: 'When the day
of Judgment comes, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy
in your name, work many miracles in your name? Then I shall tell them
to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men.'
God forbid--says St Paul--that I, who have preached to others should
myself be rejected" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 930).

"Hold to that", literally "hold to these things": probably a reference
to the various points made in this chapter and perhaps also to things
the Apostle had at different times told Timothy to keep an eye on.
Perseverance is necessary for the minister himself and for the good of
the people to whom he ministers.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: John 19:25-27

The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (Continuation)

[25] So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were
His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary
Magdalene. [26] When Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He
loved standing near, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!"
[27] Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from
that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Commentary:

25. Whereas the Apostles, with the exception of St. John, abandon Jesus
in the hour of His humiliation, these pious women, who had followed Him
during His public life (cf. Lk 8:2-3) now stay with their Master as He
dies on the cross (cf. note on Mt 27:55-56).

Pope John Paul II explains that our Lady's faithfulness was shown in
four ways: first, in her generous desire to do all that God wanted of
her (cf. Lk 1:34); second, in her total acceptance of God's will (cf.
Lk 1:38); third, in the consistency between her life and the commitment
of faith which she made; and, finally, in her withstanding this test.
"And only a consistency that lasts throughout the whole of life can be
called faithfulness. Mary's 'fiat' in the Annunciation finds its
fullness in the silent 'fiat' that she repeats at the foot of the Cross"
("Homily in Mexico Cathedral", 26 January 1979).

The Church has always recognized the dignity of women and their important
role in salvation history. It is enough to recall the veneration which
from the earliest times the Christian people have had for the Mother of
Christ, the Woman "par excellence" and the most sublime and most
privileged creature ever to come from the hands of God. Addressing a
special message to women, the Second Vatican Council said, among other
things: "Women in trial, who stand upright at the foot of the cross like
Mary, you who so often in history have given to men the strength to
battle unto the very end and to give witness to the point of martyrdom,
aid them now still once more to retain courage in their great
undertakings, while at the same time maintaining patience and an esteem
for humble beginnings" (Vatican II, "Message To Women", 8 December 1965).

26-27. "The spotless purity of John's whole life makes him strong before
the Cross. The other apostles fly from Golgotha: he, with the Mother of
Christ, remains. Don't forget that purity strengthens and invigorates
the character" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 144).

Our Lord's gesture in entrusting His Blessed Mother to the disciple's
care, has a dual meaning (see p. 19 above and pp. 35ff). For one thing
it expresses His filial love for the Virgin Mary. St Augustine sees it
as a lesson Jesus gives us on how to keep the fourth commandment: "Here
is a lesson in morals. He is doing what He tells us to do and, like a
good Teacher, He instructs His own by example, that it is the duty of
good children to take care of their parents; as though the wood on which
His dying members were fixed were also the chair of the teaching Master"
(St Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 119, 2).

Our Lord's words also declare that Mary is our Mother: "The Blessed
Virgin also advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully
persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in
keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the
intensity of His suffering, associating herself with His sacrifice in her
mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim
who was born of her. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus
dying on the cross as a mother to His disciple" (Vatican II, "Lumen
Gentium", 58).

All Christians, who are represented in the person of John, are children
of Mary. By giving us His Mother to be our Mother, Christ demonstrates
His love for His own to the end (cf. Jn 13:1). Our Lady's acceptance of
John as her son show her motherly care for us: "the Son of God, and your
Son, from the Cross indicated a man to you, Mary, and said: 'Behold, your
son' (Jn 19:26). And in that man He entrusted to you every person, He
entrusted everyone to you. And you, who at the moment of the
Annunciation, concentrated the whole program of your life in those simple
words: 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according
to your word' (Lk 1:38): embrace everyone, draw close to everyone, seek
everyone out with motherly care. Thus is accomplished what the last
Council said about your presence in the mystery of Christ and the Church.
In a wonderful way you are always found in the mystery of Christ, your
only Son, because you are present wherever men and women, His brothers
and sisters, are present, wherever the Church is present" (John Paul II,
"Homily in the Basilica of Guadalupe", 27 January 1979).

"John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, brought Mary into his home, into
his life. Spiritual writers have seen these words of the Gospel as an
invitation to all Christians to bring Mary into their lives. Mary
certainly wants us to invoke her, to approach her confidently, to appeal
to her as our mother, asking her to 'show that you are our mother'" ([St] J.
Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 140).

John Paul II constantly treats our Lady as his Mother. In bidding
farewell to the Virgin of Czestochowa he prayed in this way: "Our Lady of
the Bright Mountain, Mother of the Church! Once more I consecrate myself
to you 'in your maternal slavery of love'. 'Totus tuus!' I am yours! I
consecrate to you the whole Church--everyone to the ends of the earth! I
consecrate to you humanity; I consecrate to you all men and women, my
brothers and sisters. All peoples and all nations. I consecrate to you
Europe and all the continents. I consecrate to you Rome and Poland,
united, through your servant, by a fresh bond of love. Mother, accept
us! Mother, do not abandon us! Mother, be our guide!" ("Farewell
Address" at Jasna Gora Shrine, 6 June 1979).

Our Lady of Sorrows
Memorial
September 15th

Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows
Adriaen Isenbrant
1518-35
Panel
O.L. Vrouwekerk, Bruges

Stabat Mater Dolorosa - Sequence Hymn

History of the Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows
The seven founders of the Servite Order, in 1239, five years after they established themselves on Monte Senario, took up the sorrows of Mary, standing under the Cross, as the principal devotion of their order. The feast originate by a provincial synod of Cologne (1413) to expiate the crimes of the iconoclast Hussites; it was to be kept on the Friday after the third Sunday after Easter under the title: "Commemoratio angustix et doloris B. Marix V". Its object was exclusively the sorrow of Mary during the Crucifixion and Death of Christ. Before the sixteenth century this feast was limited to the dioceses of North Germany, Scandinavia, and Scotland. Being termed "Compassio" or "Transfixio", Commendatio, Lamentatio B.M.V.", it was kept at a great variety of dates, mostly during Eastertide or shortly after Pentecost, or on some fixed day of a month. Dreves and Blume (Analecta hymnica) have published a large number of rhythmical offices, sequences and hymns for the feast of the Compassion, which show that from the end of the fifteenth century in several dioceses the scope of this feast was widened to commemorate either five dolours (sorrows), from the imprisonment to the burial of Christ, or seven dolours, extending over the entire life of Mary.
Towards the end of the end of the sixteenth century the feast spread over part of the south of Europe; in 1506 it was granted to the nuns of the Annunciation under the title "Spasmi B.M.V.", Monday after Passion Sunday; in 1600 to the Servite nuns of Valencia, "B.M.V. sub pede Crucis", Friday before Palm Sunday. After 1600 it became popular in France and was termed "Dominx N. de Pietate", Friday before Palm Sunday. To this latter date the feast was assigned for the whole German Empire (1674). By a Decree of April 22, 1727, Benedict XIII extended it to the entire Latin Church, under the title "Septem dolorum B.M.V.", although the Office and Mass retain the original character of the feast, the Compassion of Mary at the foot of the Cross. At both Mass and Office the "Stabat Mater" of Giacopone da Todi (1306) is sung (see words in Latin and English below).

A second feast was granted to the Servites, June 9 and September 15, 1668. Its object of the seven dolours of Mary (according to the responsories of Matins).

The sorrows:
* at the prophecy of Simeon;
* at the flight into Egypt;
* having lost the Holy Child at Jerusalem;
* meeting Jesus on his way to Calvary;
* standing at the foot of the Cross;
* Jesus being taken from the Cross;
* at the burial of Christ.
This feast was extended to Spain (1735); to Tuscany (1807). After his return from his exile in France Pius VII extended the feast to the Latin Church (September 18, 1814). A feast, "B.M.V. de pietate", with a beautiful medieval office, is kept in honor of the sorrowful mother at Goa in India and Braga in Portugal, on the third Sunday of October; in the ecclesiastical province of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, last Sunday of May, etc. A special form of devotion is practiced in Spanish-speaking countries under the term of "N.S. de la Soledad", to commemorate the solitude of Mary on Holy Saturday. Its origin goes back to Queen Juana, lamenting the early death of her husband Philip I, King of Spain (1506).
(Principal source - Catholic Encyclopedia - 1913 edition)

Collect:
Father,
as Your Son was raised on the cross,
His mother Mary stood by Him, sharing His sufferings.
May Your Church be united with Christ
in His suffering and death
and so come to share in His rising to new life,
where He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: Hebrews 5:7-9
In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard for His godly fear. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered; and being made perfect He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

Gospel Reading: John 19:25-27
Standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing near, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Alternative Gospel Reading: Luke 2:33-35
Jesus' father and mother marveled at what was said about Him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."

Mater Dolorosa - Sorrowing Mother
Rogier van der Weyden - Deposition (detail) -- c. 1435 (Oil on oak panel)
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Catholic Culture

Collect:
Father, as your Son was raised on the cross, his mother Mary stood by him, sharing his sufferings. May your Church be united with Christ in his suffering and death and so come to share in his rising to new life, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Recipes:

» Fruit Salad
» Heart Cake (cut-up)

Activities:

less

Prayers:

September 15, 2005

Our Lady of Sorrows

Old Calendar: Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary; St. Nicomedes, martyr

Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady has its roots in Sacred Scripture and in Christian piety, which always associates the Blessed Mother with her suffering Son. Today's feast was introduced by the Servites in order to intensify devotion to Our Lady's Sorrows. In 1817 Pius VII — suffering grievously in exile but finally liberated by Mary's intercession — extended the feast to the universal Church.

Before the reform of the General Roman Calendar today was also the commemoration of St. Nicomedes, a Roman martyr of unknown date. He was buried not far from the walls of Rome on the Via Nomentana, and the pious faithful built a "cemetery basilica" above his tomb.

Our Lady of Sorrows

This feast dates back to the 12th century. It was especially promoted by the Cistercians and the Servites, so much so that in the 14th and 15th centuries it was widely celebrated throughout the Catholic Church. In 1482 the feast was added to the Missal under the title of "Our Lady of Compassion." Pope Benedict XIII added it to the Roman Calendar in 1727 on the Friday before Palm Sunday. In 1913, Pope Pius X fixed the date on September 15. The title "Our Lady of Sorrows" focuses on Mary's intense suffering during the passion and death of Christ. "The Seven Dolors," the title by which it was celebrated in the 17th century, referred to the seven swords that pierced the Heart of Mary. The feast is like an octave for the birthday of Our Lady on September 8th. — Excerpted from Our Lady of Sorrows by Fr. Paul Haffner (Inside the Vatican, September 2004)

This feast is dedicated to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, Mother of God, and her compassion with the sufferings of her Divine Son, Jesus. In her suffering as co-redeemer, she reminds us of the tremendous evil of sin and shows us the way of true repentance. May the numerous tears of the Mother of God be conducive to our salvation; with which tears Thou, O God, art able to wash away the sins of the whole world.

As Mary stood at the foot of the Cross on which Jesus hung, the sword of sorrow Simeon had foretold pierced her soul. Below are the seven sorrows of Mary:

The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35)
The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)
Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-50)
Mary meets Jesus on his way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17)
Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30)
The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37)
The burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)

Symbols: heart pierced with a sword; heart pierced by seven swords; winged heart pierced with a sword; flowers: red rose, iris (meaning: "sword-lily"), cyclamen.

Patron: people named Dolores, Dolais, Deloris, Dolorita, Maria Dolorosa, Pia, and Pieta.

Things to Do:

Teach your children the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Read more about this devotion. September is traditionally dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.
Present different art pieces of Our Lady of Sorrows, or illustration of one of her sorrows, for meditation and discussion. There are so many different pieces from all different eras, countries and mediums. Search words for art titles would be Lamentation, Deposition, Pieta, Dolorosa, Sorrows, etc. Some samples:
- The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin by Albrecht Durer
- Michelangelo's Pieta
- Pieta by Giovanni Bellini
- Vincent Van Gogh's Pieta
- Titian's Mater Dolorosa
- Different artists on the Presentation in the Temple
- Various artists on the Flight into Egypt
Discuss why Mary is called the Queen of Martyrs.
Make a heart cake, decorated with the swords piercing the heart for dessert.
Think of ways to make reparation to Mary for the sins committed against Our Lord.
Pray the short prayer or ejaculation, Holy Mother, imprint deeply upon my heart the wounds of the Crucified.
Read or sing the Stabat Mater, perhaps incorporating it with the Stations of the Cross.
In Italy, the title of Our Lady of Sorrows is Maria Santissima Addolorata. This devotion began in the 1200's. She is the patron of many Italian cities. In southern Italy there is La Festa della Madonna dei Sette Dolori (the festival of the Seven Sorrows of the Madonna), instituted in 1423, also called Madonna dell’Addolorata Festival. The food connected to this festival is cuccia salata, wheat berries cooked in meat broth and layered with goat or pork

Homily of the Day

Title:	Perseverance: Love Makes It Possible
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D
Date:	Thursday, September 15, 2005

1 Tim 4:12-16 / Jn 19:25-27

One of the most astonishing things one can ever witness is the exchange of vows between a bride and groom. Before God and the Church they speak an absolute "yes" to each other, for better or worse, for the rest of their lives, without knowing what the mix of better or worse will be as the decades pass one after another. Yet they speak their "yes" with glad hearts. Is it sheer ignorance or inexperience that lets them do that? In part, it is. But in most cases there's something more, and that is a conviction that the one thing that makes life human and worth living is committed love that doesn't count the cost. They're saying, "We'll take the risk and pay the price because we want a real life and not just a shadow."

Nowhere are the consequences of a simple "Yes" spoken long ago more visible than in today's gospel: Mary who said "Yes" to God while still a teenager now stands in silence at the foot of her son's Cross. And her answer to God is still "Yes."

Almost all of us have spoken our key "yesses" to God at the time of marriage, or ordination, or at the birth of children, and at many other times besides. And now most of us stand somewhere in the middle of living out our "yesses." Doing so can at times be painful, distressing, or just simply boring, and our "Yes" can grow faint. That's when we need to remember why we spoke our "Yes" in the first place: because we loved and we knew that love alone can bring us life.

Love for Jesus and confidence in God's love for her kept Mary from despair and carried her to Easter morning. Easter will come for every one of us if we let God love us through the darkness.

American Catholic's Saint of the Day

September 15, 2005

Our Lady of Sorrows

For a while there were two feasts in honor of the Sorrowful Mother: one going back to the 15th century, the other to the 17th century. For a while both were celebrated by the universal Church: one on the Friday before Palm Sunday, the other in September.

The principal biblical references to Mary's sorrows are in Luke 2:35 and John 19:26-27. The Lucan passage is Simeon's prediction about a sword piercing Mary's soul; the Johannine passage relates Jesus' words to Mary and to the beloved disciple.

Many early Church writers interpret the sword as Mary's sorrows, especially as she saw Jesus die on the cross. Thus, the two passages are brought together as prediction and fulfillment.

St. Ambrose in particular sees Mary as a sorrowful yet powerful figure at the cross. Mary stood fearlessly at the cross while others fled. Mary looked on her Son's wounds with pity, but saw in them the salvation of the world. As Jesus hung on the cross, Mary did not fear to be killed but offered herself to her persecutors.

Comment:

John's account of Jesus' death is highly symbolic. When Jesus gives the beloved disciple to Mary, we are invited to appreciate Mary's role in the Church: She symbolizes the Church; the beloved disciple represents all believers. As Mary mothered Jesus, she is now mother to all his followers. Furthermore, as Jesus died, he handed over his Spirit. Mary and the Spirit cooperate in begetting new children of God—almost an echo of Luke's account of Jesus' conception. Christians can trust that they will continue to experience the caring presence of Mary and Jesus' Spirit throughout their lives and throughout history.

Quote:

"At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.
Through her heart, his sorrow sharing,
All his bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword has passed."
(Stabat Mater)

A Voice in the Desert

Thursday September 15, 2005 Our Lady of Sorrows

Reading (Hebrews 5:7-9) Gospel (St. Luke 2:33-35)

In the first reading today from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews, there is a line that is quite interesting. It says: Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered; and when He became perfect, He became the source of eternal life to all who serve Him. If we think about what that says, first of all, how can we say that Jesus through suffering learned obedience? He is God; He is perfectly obedient. Then it talks about “when He was made perfect.” He is God; He is perfect. And He cannot be made any more perfect than He already was because God is perfect. Period. If He became more perfect, it would imply that He was not God because God cannot change. So how could He become perfect?

Well, if we think about exactly what this means and put it into the context of today’s feast, it makes perfect sense because the Mystical Body of Christ and the fullness of the person of Christ, which is both the historical, physical person of Christ and the Mystical Christ (of which we are members), are one. We have one and the same Father; we have one and the same Mother; we are all members of Jesus Christ. He is God; He is perfect. We are not. And so the point is that the only way we will become perfect is through suffering. The only way we will learn obedience is through suffering.

Now this gets right at the heart of the Protestant heresy that we are dealing with today, and that is that God does not want us to suffer. “Jesus did it all, therefore, you don’t need to.” It is that gospel of health and wealth that I rip on rather frequently because it is nowhere in Scripture. It is nowhere in Christianity until just fairly recently when all of a sudden these people decided about 150 years ago that they were not going to have to suffer. No Christian believed that for over 1800 years, but now it has become one of the central doctrines for many who are not Catholic.

We see that it [suffering] is something that is required. Think about the feast we celebrate today. Our Lord loved His mother more than anyone. She loved Him more than all of us and all the saints and angels combined, so she loved Him more than anyone. If there were anyone whom Our Lord would spare from suffering, it would be His mother. All of us can look at it and say, “Well, we deserve it after all, look at our sins.” She never sinned, and so there was nothing in her that needed to be perfected. Yet there she was united with Him in His suffering right from the beginning of His life, as we heard in the Gospel reading the prophecy that a sword will pierce your heart. The Greek word there for “sword” is a sword of sorrow, not a physical sword but a spiritual one. A sword of sorrow would pierce her Immaculate Heart. Now if the Lord was going to do all the suffering for us so that we did not need to, the one person He would have spared is His mother above all of us. Yet she, being the preeminent member of the Mystical Body of Christ and being our mother, is the one who shows us how to live the fullness of the Christian life.

The fullness of that Christian life implies being at the foot of the Cross, being united with Jesus in His suffering, offering sacrifices to God the Father. And because the Mystical Christ is crying out to God, just as Saint Paul says of Our Lord that He offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the One who was able to save Him from death and He was heard because of His reverence, so too in the Mystical Christ. The sacrifice that we offer everyday at Mass is a perfect sacrifice. Therefore, the prayers are heard and answered by God because the primary priest is Jesus, the victim is Jesus. The prayer is the perfect prayer of Our Lord, so we know that the prayers are heard. The prayers are not to spare us from suffering and death, but rather the prayers are to free us from suffering and death. That does not mean to keep us from having to suffer and die, but rather it means to bring us through the suffering and death to the glory of the Resurrection. Jesus was freed from death, but He had to enter into it before He could rise and be freed from it.

So it will be with us. We will not be spared the suffering, as we all know from our own lives. We will not be spared the share in the death of Christ, but we will be freed from it if we unite ourselves with it. In fact, the saints tell us that when we have such a profound love for Our Lord that the suffering we endure becomes the glory. It becomes the greatest joy in our lives. The very thing that most of us spend so much time and effort trying to avoid is what the saints would run to embrace. So we really see how little we love Our Lord as we do everything in our power to make sure we do not have to suffer.

If we want to truly love Our Lord and if we want to follow the example of our Blessed Lady, we have to remember that Jesus will do with us exactly what He did with His blessed mother. Before the public ministry began, He asked her permission. He would not begin the work for which He came into this world until His mother said “yes.” And He will not do all kinds of work in our souls until we say “yes.” He will not force us to follow Him to the Cross; that has to be our choice. So if we want to be perfect, if we want to grow in holiness, if we want to learn obedience, there is ultimately only one way: It is to be united with Our Lord and to follow the example of our Blessed Lady. Again, look in the Gospels and every single time you hear Our Lady mentioned she is where Jesus is. Therefore, that is the example we have to follow. She was right where He was, right up to the Cross; right up to the Resurrection, there she was. If we want to share in His glory then we need to follow Him. We need to walk with Him through the struggles of this life of Calvary to the Cross to be united with Him in His crucifixion so that we will be right there at the moment of the Resurrection, and with Him and with our Blessed Lady we will be able to share not only the glory of the Cross but the ultimate glory of the Resurrection.

* This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.

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