FRIDAY, TWENTY THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
1 Tm 1:1-2,12-14; Ps 16; Jn 19:25-27 or Lk 2: 33-35
MULIER DOLORUM
Every baptized person is expected to be a witness to Jesus Christ and his kingdom in our own ways in our daily life. Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, which highlights the loving relationship of Mary and her participation in the mission of God the Father. This day commemorates the sorrowful Mother and the sufferings she experienced in union with her son and dates back to the 12th century. The Memorial was extended to the Universal Church in 1817 by Pope Pius VII and fixed officially in the calendar for September 15 in 1913 by Pope Pius X.
The Scripture reading of today invites us to ponder deeply the mystery of our redemption and reveals to us how the plan that God has for our salvation is fulfilled by Jesus Christ, the son of God – made man, through his life of virtue – his obedience and humility, though his prayers, his sufferings and his tears and finally his death- even on a cross. Jesus Crucified is the salvation for this humanity which has wandered far away from God, has built a civilization without him and has given itself a moral law opposed to the holy law of the Lord. For this reason, it is carrying a weight of immense suffering and walking in the deep darkness of hatred and division, of violence and wars. It is therefore necessary that the cross of Christ be planted in the heart of this humanity so that it may rediscover the way of its conversion and of its return to the Lord. The sufferings undergone by Jesus crucified are salvation for all of us, exposed to such great danger of being lost.
The presence today of our blessed Mother beneath the cross with her pierced soul is a sign of sure hope and certain victory. Let us enter into the deep mystery of our Mother’s desolation. Our Lord wanted his mother beneath his cross to associate her intimately in the mystery of his redemption. She is called by him to be true co-redemptrix.
Response: It is you, O Lord, who are my portion.
Copyright ©2023 ©Springs of Living Water http://springs.carmelmedia.in