Our Lady of Sorrows

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

John 19:25-27 or Luke 2:33-35

Human living demands that we undergo a whole lot of sufferings and sorrows; these may consist in living with contradictions in our hearts, befriending enemies, forgiving others, embracing disorder, and accepting reality as it is with all its inconsistencies. In other words, we as Christians are called to have an attitude of contemplation or pondering. Mother Mary is a beautiful example of such a contemplative practice. Even when she does not understand many things in her life (during the Birth of Jesus or when Jesus is lost and found), she holds (keeps) them in her heart and “ponders” over them. In fact, the Lucan gospel reports, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19) and once again, almost repeating the previous verse, the evangelist states, “she treasured all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:51).

Pondering is holding things in our hearts even when they seem to have no meaning; it is standing before life’s great mysteries the way Mary stood before the various events of Jesus’ life, including the way she stood under the cross. Mary stood at the foot of the cross, accepting the reality of her Son who had apparently become a “criminal,” a “sinner.” She did not abandon her criminal, divine son; she did not expect a premature solution to this contradiction that she held in her heart. Ronald Rolheiser writes, “When Mary stands under the cross of Jesus and watches him die—and there is absolutely nothing she can do to save him or even to protest his innocence and goodness—she is pondering in the biblical sense.” As at Nativity, also at the foot of the cross she stood wondering, pondering amidst heightened suffering. She did not curse God, she did not give up hope. The answer would come one day. She held the contradiction of her son in incredible tension. Her suffering heart, “pierced by the sword,” held the irreconciliable elements in creative tension, hoping that out of this tension would be born an answer that she herself could not author, a resolution that would be given from above.

This is the type of mysticism that we most need today to revitalize our faith. (Mysticism is not merely for great saints, but for busy people like us who find it hard to make time for prayer.) It is not about heroism, but simple acceptance of the cross in our daily lives. It is about standing at the foot of the cross, accepting Jesus as our Saviour even when we find meaninglessness in and around us. It is precisely this kind of pondering, a willingness to carry tension as Mary did, that we need today. It may call us to value silence when we want to speak out in anger or vengeance. It may call us to say a kind word from our heart, reserving our judgment till we get more information about the other person. It may call us to think from God's perspective, and not merely from a human or a narrow perspective.

God is good, and he will turn all things into good. And that's why we can say "all is well" in our world—because it is His world, He is in charge of everything.

Let us allow Mary to be our Mother and Teacher, especially when we encounter difficulties: so that we see God's hand in all our life-events.