Friday in the 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, September 15, 2023

The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

Luke 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.”

In 1727, Pope Boniface XIII promoted this feast from one celebrated locally in Europe to the whole world.  The feast was first celebrated in northern Germany in 1423.  In it we piously recall the sufferings the Blessed Virgin Mary incurred through her deep and abiding compassion for her Son’s sufferings, especially those connected with his Passion and Death.

Traditionally, seven specific sufferings or “sorrows” are commemorated today: the prophecy of Simeon, which is used for today’s Gospel Reading; the flight into Egypt by the Holy Family; the loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple for three days; Jesus carrying his Cross; the Lord’s crucifixion and Death; the taking down of the Lord’s Body from the Cross by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea; the entombment of the Body of Jesus.  We might add a few more if we think carefully, such as the death of her husband St. Joseph, the Lord’s departure from Nazareth to begin his Public Life, and his rejection and persecution by the Pharisees.  

“Jesus’ father and mother were amazed at what was said about him.”  The Gospel Reading begins in the middle of St. Luke’s account of the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple in fulfillment of the Law. This may have occurred between the visit of the Magi from the East and Herod’s realization, some days later, that he had been deceived by them so that Joseph and Mary would have taken Jesus back to Bethlehem where the angel spoke to Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt.  At the time of the Presentation, an elderly man whom Luke describes as a prophet came up to the Holy Family and took Jesus in his arms, praising God and speaking about the Child.  His parents “wondered” (according to the Greek text) at what Simeon said.  To understand their wonderment it helps to keep in mind that Mary and Joseph were not provided with a road map of their Son’s life.  They lived day to day with the mystery of him.

“Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel.”  That is, he will cause many to fall and to rise.  He is “destined”, perhaps better translated as “appointed”.  This Child is appointed (by Almighty God) to cause many in Israel to fall and to rise.  King Herod and the High Priest Caiaphas would fall; the fisherman Peter and the tent-maker Paul would rise.  “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.”  Jesus will be a sign, “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1, 15), the Sign of signs of the Father’s unquenchable love.  This Sign will be contradicted or opposed, even so, by people filled with pride and hatred who reject that love.  Simeon speaks directly to Mary: “You yourself a sword will pierce.”  This is the “sword” of her own passionate love for her Son.  It will cause her to suffer as he suffers so that the heartbreak she will feel with him will be nearly so intense as to kill her.  “So that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”  Her suffering has a particular purpose in God’s plan of salvation.  A person may see another person enduring some terrible torment but be more affected by another person’s outpouring of grief at this, or realize how terrible the suffering is when seen through the eyes of another’s — particularly a mother’s — grief.  And yet Mary did not outwardly reveal the immensity of the sorrow she suffered.  She never gives way to it.  She remains always the Handmaid of the Lord prepared at all times to put aside her own sorrow in order to serve the will of God.  She stands at the Cross.  She does not faint or collapse into wailing at the sight of her butchered Son.  She stands as though awaiting orders from the One she serves.  And the Lord Jesus gives an order to her, to be the Mother of John and the other Apostles — and to be the Mother of all the believers to come.

Mary’s silent suffering brings forth from those who look upon her in prayer and meditation cries of love for her and for her Son.