Trước khi Chúa Giêsu chết trên thập giá, Chúa đã trao phó Đức Maria, mẹ của mình cho Thánh Gioan, môn đệ Ngài yêu dấu để chăm sóc, "Đây là mẹ của con," và Ngài cũng nhắn nhủ với mẹ mình là hãy chấp nhận Thánh Gioan như con trai của mình, "Này bà, đây là con bà."
Giờ đây Đức Trinh Nữ Maria cả xác lẫn hổn đã được vinh quang với Con của Mẹ và tất cả những người được chọn và các thiên thần ở trên Thiên Quốc. Đức Maria không cần sự chăm sóc, thương yêu chúng ta như Mẹ đã cần sự chăm sóc của Thánh Gioan lúc xưa khi còn ở trần thế. Đức Maria ở trên trời là một người Mẹ có quyền thế và sức mạnh nhất, Mẹ luôn yêu thương giúp đỡ và hướng dẫn mỗi người chúng ta. Chúng ta nên học theo cách yêu mến của Con Mẹ là Chúa Giêsu và tập sống giống như Mẹ.
When we are asked to care of our friend's belongings, we do so with great care. What if we are asked to look after our friend's mother? Would we be able to undertake such a task?
Dying on the cross our Lord leaves his Mother Mary to the care of the beloved disciple John, "There is your mother," and also tasks his mother to accept John as her son, "Woman, this is your son."
The Church has read Christ entrusting his mother to John and the beloved Apostle John to his Mother as Christ's lasting will and testament to entrust his Mother to each of his followers and to entrust each of his followers to Mary's care. Thus, Mary is the mother of each one of us, of each one of the followers of Christ and each one of us is her son or daughter.
John's Gospel said that "from that moment the disciple took her to his own home." From that moment John loved and took care of Mary as his mother. Tradition has it that John and Mary eventually moved to Ephesus where to this date there is a shrine of their home.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is now body and soul in glory with her Son and all the elect and angels in heaven. She does not need us to take care of her as she needed John's love and care during her lifetime.
Mary in heaven is a most powerful and loving Mother of each one of us. With her help and guidance, may we learn to love her son as she does. Thank you, Lord, for giving your mother to be our mother. May we learn to love her as you do. May we always turn to her to learn to love you as she does.
Thank you for our own mothers who reflect the love of your Mother Mary. "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but, in your mercy, hear and answer me.
It is no liturgical coincidence that the day after we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we honor Our Lady of Sorrows. This close liturgical connection highlights the inseparable union between Christ’s Passion and His Mother’s compassion.
The passage above is one of the two optional Gospel readings for today. The other is taken from the foot of the Cross: “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene” (John 19:25). In both passages, we are invited to gaze with reverent love upon the overflowing charity found in the Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Heart. Though she experienced countless moments of profound joy, today we contemplate the holy sorrow she endured as she accompanied her divine Son.
From the first moment of her Immaculate Conception, the Blessed Mother’s heart was full of grace. She was preserved from the stain of Original Sin and remained sinless throughout her life by freely obeying every prompting of the Holy Spirit who overshadowed her. For this reason, her Immaculate Heart is unique—no other motherly heart has ever loved so purely, and no other heart has ever suffered so deeply.
It is easy to imagine that pure love would exempt a soul from suffering. But all we need to do is look upon the Son of God to know that this is not so. Suffering, sorrow, and the perfection of love are not opposed; they are perfectly united in every holy soul conformed to Christ, as exemplified in His Mother.
When we contemplate the Exaltation of the Cross, we behold Jesus crucified—naked, humiliated, and in excruciating agony. Yet that suffering held no power over Him. He conquered it by embracing it, enduring it, and transforming it into the very foundation of Divine Mercy.
Likewise, as the Mother of God stood before the exalted Cross of her Son and beheld Him in His final agony, her heart was pierced by the sword that Simeon prophesied on the day of Jesus’ Presentation in the Temple. In that moment, sorrow and love became one. How could she feel otherwise? Had she not loved her Son so deeply, she would not have suffered so profoundly. It was precisely because her love was so pure that her sorrow was so great.
There is much to learn from the Sorrowful Heart of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. From her we learn that holy love enables us to suffer with others. This is the essence of the word compassion—to suffer with. When we witness the sins of others—for which Christ suffered—or when we ourselves experience rejection, betrayal, or injustice, we are faced with a choice. We can turn inward in bitterness and self-pity, or we can imitate the Blessed Mother and choose holy compassion, loving even in the midst of pain, rejection, and abuse.
Why did our Blessed Mother choose this holy sorrow, this loving compassion? Because love expressed in this way draws sinners back to God. Her compassion, united with Christ’s, became a silent yet powerful invitation for all souls to repent, to believe, and to be healed.
Reflect today on the sorrow within your own heart. It is easy to be saddened by loss, hardship, or trials. But sadness is not the same as holy sorrow. Does suffering lead you to compassion and empathy, or does it turn into self-pity? As we ponder the sorrows of our Blessed Mother, pray for the grace to imitate her holy compassion. Embrace your trials with love, and allow mercy to flow from your wounded heart. The Blessed Virgin perfectly exemplifies this sacred charity, and through her intercession and example, we are called to do the same.
Our Lady of Sorrows, you stood by your divine Son in His joys and in His sufferings. You felt what He felt, loved with His love, and had compassion for all. Please pray for me, that as I gaze upon the exalted triumph of your Son’s Cross, I may never look away, but look with love, uniting my own crosses with His. Sorrowful Heart of Mary, pray for us. Jesus, I trust in You.
1. The Rosary of the Seven Sorrows: Today we celebrate the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. One traditional devotion associated especially with this memorial is the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, which invites us to meditate upon seven particular sorrows experienced by Mary in union with the suffering of her Son. Each sorrow is traditionally contemplated while praying seven Hail Marys. The devotion was promoted especially by the Order of Servants of Mary, or Servites, a mendicant order founded by seven holy men in Florence around 1233. According to Servite tradition, on August 15 of that year, the seven founders experienced a vision of Our Lady, who called them to leave the world and devote themselves more completely to God. Their order received ecclesiastical recognition in the thirteenth century and was formally approved by Pope Benedict XI in 1304. The seven founders were canonized together by Pope Leo XIII in 1888.
2. The Sorrows of Jesus’ Early Life: The first three sorrows of Mary correspond in a striking way with events traditionally associated with the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary: the prophecy of Simeon follows the joy of Jesus’ Presentation; the flight into Egypt follows the joy of his birth; and the loss of Jesus in the Temple follows the joy of finding him there. This juxtaposition reminds us that Christian joy does not exclude suffering. The two can exist together because both are embraced within God’s providential plan. At the Presentation, Mary rejoices in offering her Son to the Father, yet Simeon immediately tells her that “a sword will pierce” her soul (Luke 2:35). After the joy of Bethlehem comes the flight into Egypt. After the joy of finding Jesus in the Temple comes the memory of three days of anguished searching. Mary’s life therefore teaches us that following Christ does not mean being spared from suffering. Her fiat – “Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38) – remains operative even when God's will leads her into experiences she could not have anticipated. This is also the path of Christian discipleship. When we unite our sufferings to Christ, they can become occasions of grace rather than merely occasions of despair. As Saint John Paul II wrote, “Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption. Thus each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ” (Salvifici Doloris, 19). Mary teaches us how to make this offering. She does not understand everything, but she remains faithful. She does not flee from suffering, but stands with her Son.
Tuesday. Reflection Immaculate Heart of Mary 9/15
1. The Sword Reveals: When Jesus was an infant, Simeon told Mary that her heart would one day be pierced “so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:25). The one to whom all thoughts are revealed is Christ, the Word: “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The sword, the word of God, pierced the heart of Mary and it pierces our hearts with the truth everytime we meditate on the Scriptures. When we read God’s word, our hearts are laid open before him. Mary’s Immaculate Heart–itself pierced with a sword–is part of God’s plan to deliver his word to us. As St. Louis de Montfort said, “to Jesus through Mary.”
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