Our Lady of Sorrows
We celebrate today the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. The principal biblical references to Mary’s sorrows are in Luke 2:35 and John 19:26–27, which part of today’s gospel reading. The Lucan passage is Simeon’s prediction about a sword piercing Mary’s soul. The Johannine passage relates Jesus’s words to Mary and to the Beloved Disciple.
Just forty days after the birth of Jesus, Mary experiences her first major sorrow. Batay sa prophecy ni Simeon, isang tabak ang tutusok sa puso ni Maria A sword will pierce Mary’s heart, and it will be a sword of sorrow.
Imagine this: Kalung-kalong ni Maria ang kanyang sanggol na si Hesus…biglang nanginig ang kanyang buong katawan nang marinig si Simeon. At nasabi sa kanyang sarili, with so much pain: “How can this beautiful, innocent child can cause my heart being pierced with a sword?”
Dahil nga sa sinabi ni Simeon na ang kanyang sanggol ay magiging “a sign that will be contradicted,” kaya batid agad ni Maria na ito ay hahantong sa paghihirap, pagpapakasakit at pagkamatay ng kanyang Anak. However, Mary is able to take the prophecy of Simeon and endure that sword of sorrow because she believes that it is the will of God.
Patuloy na tinutusok at sinusugatan ng tabak ng hapis, sword of sorrow, ang Kalinis-linisang Puso ni Maria dahil sa pakikiisa niya sa hirap at sakit na nararanasan ng bawat isa sa atin ngayon. Subalit bukod sa kanyang pakikiisa sa hirap at sakit natin, tinuturo rin sa atin ng Mahal na Ina na bahagi talaga ng tapat na pagsunod natin sa kanyang Anak ang iba’t ibang uri ng paghihirap at pagpapakasakit. We should not, then, be surprised when we experience a certain amount of hardship and difficulty, of pain and suffering, on account of our faith in her son Jesus. It is all part of the “suffering of love” we willingly bear for the One who loves us beyond all measure.
Today’s Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows reminds us that we are always called to unite ourselves with the Lord. There are many reasons for our sorrows and pains; but only those that we suffer on account of our love for Jesus are worth enduring. Those pains and sorrows likewise give us the capacity to suffer for others whom the Lord loves.
Parokya ni Osong 