Reflections on Our Lady of Sorrows (Br Cornelius Ching)

No one can boast of visiting St Peter's Basilica without visiting the famous Pieta, the sculpture by Michelangelo. It depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the body of her precious son on her lap, who had just undergone a tremendous amount of suffering and an inhumane death. It is at this moment that the prophesy by Simeon (Lk 2:34-35) seem so real and heart wrenching.


The church celebrates the memorial of Our Lady on Sorrows on 15th Sep, just a day after the feast of the Triumph of the Cross. How fitting!

Our Blessed Mother took all the ridicule and comments about Jesus in her stride. Imagine people commenting and condemming almost every action and intention of someone you love dearly. Still she took everything in her stride, quietly supporting her lovely Jesus every step of the way, never questioning the will of God. The final straw must come when she sees her precious son so cruely treated and crucified right before her very eyes. If I were in her shoes, the experience will not only be like a sword piercing my heart but it will be closer to my heart being torn to shreds in a mechanical blender set on 'high'.

Did she kick up a big fuss, seeking to redress the injustice her son suffered? She would rather spend her time and energy with the people close to the heart of Jesus, knowing they will be feeling lost and dejected as well. She was with them all the way, just as she was with her precious Jesus all the way to the end.

It is this tremendous faith in the will of God that sees her through. She is the first Christian and the greatest Christian. It is when she experience the resurrection of Jesus that she sees the triumph of the cross of Jesus, a symbol of torture to the world but the symbol of victory to us, Christians. Jesus had conquered all and drawn all men to himself by his passion and death. Mary must be one of the first to understand this.

Let us then be like our Blessed Mother, no questioning the actions and wisdom of God, especially in the bad that happens to us, but be faithful and trusting that He know what he is doing. In due time, all will be revealed to us.

"Dearest Mother, help us grow in faith and trust in the hand of God in our lives.
Help us to know that the Father knows what is best for us.
Help us to take everything in our stride and offer them up,
good and bad, in thanksgiving to God.
Amen."

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Gabriel Wong on 18th Sep 2010.