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Gospel: John 19:25 – 27
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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When someone we love dies, we often return to their grave. On anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, or an otherwise ordinary day when the wave of grief suddenly sweeps over us, sending us back to that place where our beloved sleeps.
Graves allow us to mourn; to pray; even to hope.
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Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
We remember those three wrenching hours when Mary stood at the foot of her Son’s cross as he bled and died for us.
I wonder if Mary ever returned.
In the early hours of the morning, while the residents of Jerusalem were sleeping, did Mary retrace her Son’s final steps? Did she ascend the slope of Golgotha, quietly closing her eyes to meditate as the memory of her Son’s crucifixion bled tears from her eyes?
Did she speak to him there? Did she whisper words of consolation? Did she pray for his return?
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As the sun rose and kissed the hills of Jerusalem, I wonder if Mary meditated on that first question God asked Adam and Eve shortly after the Fall, “Where are you?”
The same question Christ must’ve wondered as he gazed down that slope bedewed by his blood. With the exception of Mary, John, and a band of women, his disciples abandoned him, begging the question, “Where are you?”
The people he was dying to save – even his closest friends – were nowhere to be found. They remind us of the power of fear, and the fragility of human nature.
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But they did return – not during the hour of our Lord’s Passion, but in time. Perhaps Peter and the others joined Mary on Golgotha months later in the wee hours of the morning, rewriting their stories, atoning for their sins.
Because this is what counts in the end – not whether or not we have failed. As Saint Paul says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
What counts is whether or not we return.
May our Blessed Mother intercede for us, that we too would surrender our lives to the one who died on Golgotha, who has loved us and given himself for us.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) Aleteia (2) Crucifixion, Titian (3) Maritime Preacher, WordPress