Breaking the Word

Our Lady of Sorrows, Friday – 15^th September 2023 — Gospel: Lk 2,33-35; Jn 19,25-27

Suffering as Redemption

Today’s feast is linked with yesterday’s celebration of the Exaltation of the Cross. Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows has inspired the famous works of art, namely Pieta, the grieving Mother holding her dead Son in her arms, after being taken down the Cross. Only the Gospel of John records that the “mother of Jesus” stood by the cross with her sister, Mary of Magdala and the “beloved disciple.” One can imagine the pain and grief she must have undergone in seeing her Son suffering and dying on the Cross.

Traditionally, Our Lady of Sorrows is depicted to have dressed in black with seven swords piercing her heart. These seven swords symbolize the chief seven sorrows of her life.

• The Prophecy of Simeon – During the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, Simeon prophesized that a sword would pierce Mary’s heart (Lk 2,22-37).
• The Flight to Egypt – Mary and Joseph with the new born baby Jesus ran to Egypt in order to escape the massacre of the children in Bethlehem (Mt 3,16-18)
• The Loss of the Child Jesus for three days – when Jesus was 12 years old, he accompanied his parents to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. After three days of missing, he was found in the temple discussing with the teachers of the Law (Lk 2,41-52).
• Meeting Jesus on the way to Calvary – A traditional and familiar scene from the Stations of the Cross, where Jesus meets his mother in his journey towards Calvary (not mentioned in the Scripture).
• Crucifixion and Death of Jesus – In the Gospel of John, we read that the Mother of Jesus was at the foot of the Cross and kept vigil with her Son as he died (Jn 19,25-27).
• Jesus taken down from the Cross – Traditional scene of 13^th Station of the Cross and represented in art by the Pieta (no Scriptural reference to this scene).
• Jesus laid in the Tomb – This is recorded in all four Gospels (Mt 28,57-61; Mk 15,42-47; Lk 23, 50-56; and John 19,38-50).

By remembering Mary’s sufferings in this way, we realize how close she was to the redeeming work of her Son, as she became Jesus’ first and closest disciple. This feast is relevant for three reasons: first, although Jesus and Mary were constantly doing God’s will, they were not spared from the cross and challenges of life. Second, in the midst of these challenges, God never abandoned them, but walked ahead of them. Finally, sorrow or Cross is never the end, but only a step towards resurrection and fullness of life.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Thursday – 14^th September 2023 — Gospel: Jn 3,13-17

Lifted up in the Resurrection

Jesus humbled himself by being obedient unto death, even death on a Cross (Phil 2,8). Thus the Cross becomes the universal symbol of faith and an instrument of salvation. When Moses lifted up the bronze serpent over the people, it foreshadowed the redemption through Jesus. That Jesus saw his being ‘lifted up’ on the Cross as part of God’s providential design for salvation is specified when he says that ‘the Son of Man must be lifted up’. In choosing to accept his death, Jesus saw himself as carrying out his Father’s will (Jn 8,28-29). If Jesus’ death, i.e., being lifted up, could be described simply as God’s will, we would say that those who condemned Jesus to death and those who crucified him were carrying out God’s will. Such a conclusion is obviously wrong: For it means that it was God and not sinful human beings who willed the murder of Jesus. This imagination can only lead to a gross misunderstanding of God’s role in Jesus’ life. It was not God who crucified Jesus; it was the Jewish leaders and their subordinates. God’s part is seen in what happened at the resurrection. Sinful human beings ‘lifted up’ Jesus on the Cross. God ‘lifted up’ Jesus into his eternal embrace in the resurrection. This is clearly expressed in early sermons in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2,23-24; 3,13-15; 4,10; 13,28-30). Therefore, the Cross is significant not because Jesus died on it, but because through it Jesus rose from the dead. It characterizes Jesus’ sharing of our humanity, our suffering and our death. We identify with crucified Christ and become co-redeemers, sharing in his cross and become obedient followers until death.