Unity

With Pentecost coming up next Sunday, I was pondering what to write, and what kept jumping out at me, even while reading prayers in the Magnificat, was the word unity. 

At first, I thought it was very odd that unity kept coming to mind. I first brushed it aside and tried to think about aspects of the Holy Spirit, and again, unity came to mind. The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity because it is the shared love between God the Father and God the Son. The Holy Spirit is, literally, the unity between Father and Son. Yet, my thought process wanted to write something about Pentecost being the birthday of the Church and the Holy Spirit being a central focus of the event. Unity is a lovely concept, but I can’t just put the single word in my post and be done with it. However, when the Spirit prompts, it’s way easier to go with the flow than for me to try and write what I think I should write.

No matter how mindful or empathetic I try to be, it’s all too easy for me to judge situations that I feel infringed upon. I think our society is so skewed towards the rights of the individual that it has lost sight of being a society itself, that is a gathering or community of people. In our attempt to connect with others, we like and share content on social media platforms. Yet that is not true interaction; it’s not listening to another and learning about them and their perspectives. Some take advantage of not seeing others to freely criticize them, and may cross the line from opinion to verbal abuse. We use the right of free speech as a shield and excuse to say whatever we want. However, as Catholic Christians we are called to unity; not just with God but with each other.

The Apostles, with the exception of John, deserted Jesus during His passion and death. When He returned after His resurrection, He showered His peace on them; both forgiving them and reinforcing the bond among them all. There are many times when we fail to follow God’s plan or commandments, yet He calls us back to a relationship with Him in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  When we return to walking with God, we are in communion with Him and all others who are in communion with Him: past, present, and future. God gathers us up to Himself, not just as individuals, but also into a community of His creation. It is Satan that scatters, the one who does not want to see God’s desire for unity in His creation to succeed. Satan is our accuser, the one who points out our faults and makes us feel that we are not worthy to be with God. While the latter is true, we can never be worthy on our own merit, but through Jesus Christ we can have a relationship with God and a seat at the heavenly banquet. Here again we have a theme of community. How many times in the Bible does it reference heaven as a feast or meal? We have heard that God calls us to this fellowship, this unity with others. But here on earth we look inward towards our own desires. We acknowledge others only to complain when they impede what we want.

If we truly want to have a relationship with God, we cannot have a mindset that our relationships with other people have no impact on our relationship with God. If we want a better relationship with God, one way to do it is to start looking at how we treat the people around us: in our families, our workplaces, our church, and any other place we go. Do we see each as a person, created by God with a unique set of gifts and talents? Do we treat them with the respect and dignity they deserve as sons and daughters of God, regardless of their professed religion? We may not agree with their perspectives and may bristle at the way they treat us, but that does not give us permission to discard them as not worthy of our time, attention, and respect. 

Pentecost is not just the birthday of the Church, rather it is a call of unity to all creation. The Apostles spoke in various tongues to bring the message of Jesus to all those scattered by different languages. They preached Jesus risen as our savior. They called for those who would listen to them to repent and be baptized so that they could receive the Holy Spirit, which is the unifying love between God the Father and God the Son. Unity does, indeed, sum up Pentecost and the greatest gift of the Trinity. 

Mary at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington DC

A very human mother

Jesus gave his mother Mary to be our spiritual mother just before He died on the cross. However, I think it’s very easy to forget that Mary was a very human mother to Jesus. 

When Mary gave her consent to Gabriel to be the mother of the Savior, she was not just a mere host for a divine creature. Rather God was able to fertilize her egg so that Jesus would receive His human flesh from Mary. While the conception of Jesus had a supernatural component, God allowed the natural progression of human time to: form Jesus in Mary’s womb, have Mary give birth naturally to Jesus, have Mary and Joseph raise Jesus from a baby to a boy to a teenager until He became a man. Jesus was fully human (and fully divine), and experienced all the emotions a human being can. Mary was a witness to her Son’s humanity throughout His life, but most especially when He was a child. If Jesus fell carrying the cross, He certainly must have taken a tumble like all children do as they are learning to walk or during play with other children. And if these incidents resulted in skinned knees and bruises, Jesus probably cried a number of times, just as He would as an adult when He wept for His dead friend Lazarus. In the movie, The Passion of the Christ, there is one scene I remember when Jesus was washing up before a meal and playfully splashed His mother. While movies are afforded the ability to add scenes that may not be historically documented, I loved that this was included because it beautifully illustrated the bond between mother and Son and their shared humanity. While there may not be documentation for that incident, I’m sure there were plenty of that type while Jesus was growing up. 

While most of Jesus’ early years are undocumented in the Gospels, there is no doubt that Mary and Jesus shared an intense mother-son bond. While the best example of this is Mary at the foot of the cross, another example is at the wedding feast in Cana. It is at Mary’s prompting that Jesus performs His first public miracle. Reflections of this Gospel passage are mostly from a spiritual perspective, but what about from a purely human exchange? Mary knows Jesus and what He is capable of doing: working miracles. She does not ask Him to make more wine, rather she simply informs Him of the issue at hand: “They have no wine.” (John 2:3) Many commentaries have analyzed Jesus’ response, but since Jesus was at the beginning of His ministry, perhaps it was not yet time to have such a big public miracle, like the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Yet Mary is keen to make sure that the wedding feast is not marred by the embarrassment of running out of wine. Perhaps her exchange with Jesus was a private conversation and only those in the most intimate circle of friends were aware. Mary does not know how Jesus will solve the issue, but directs the wait staff to follow Jesus’ directions, which end up sounding very ordinary until they are directed to draw some water and have the headwaiter taste it. In John’s Gospel, he conveys, “…and his disciples began to believe in Him.” (John 2:11). It seems as if only the disciples who accompanied Him at this point were aware of the miracle. The Gospel does not seem to indicate that anyone else from the wedding were aware of what happened; or maybe they were too busy enjoying the result of the miracle to comprehend what happened. 

As we celebrate Mother’s Day this coming weekend, let us remember the motherhood of Mary, in its very human aspects, for it is in the culmination of these human experiences that she becomes a spiritual mother to us all.

Ever present fear

It seems no matter how strong our faith is, fear is always present, waiting in the wings of our stage of life. Fear can be a good thing, as it makes us cautious and causes us to think before taking action. It can also be crippling and prevent the will of God in us. 

In reviewing the Mass readings for this past Sunday, I only got as far as the first line of the first reading in the Acts of the Apostles. I had to stop and read it several times over, almost marveling at what it conveyed. The books of the Bible convey the most important details of what is needed to deliver its message, but sometimes the smallest detail can slip by us and we miss the wisdom it brings. The reading is just after Saul is converted and, after spending time in Damascus, has returned to Jerusalem.  “…He tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing he was a disciple.” (Acts 9:26) From a logic perspective, that makes sense; Saul left Jerusalem with approval letters that would allow him to round up those following The Way, as it was first called, and to bring them back to the city in chains for judgment. He may have returned without prisoners, but did that really mean he converted? 

It is only after one of the disciples, Barnabas, takes the responsibility of bringing him to the community that Saul is able to tell of his conversion experience and he is then welcomed and allowed to support the evangelistic efforts. Barnabas was not one of the original twelve, but rather is identified earlier in Acts as selling a piece of land and laying the profits at the feet of the Apostles. Did the Holy Spirit only prompt Barnabas to take on the role of sponsor to Saul? Or was it fear in the Apostles that hampered the Spirit’s promptings? Earlier parts of Acts record the bravery of Peter speaking out and rejoicing when they are censured by the Sanhedrin. If they are happy to experience physical punishment for speaking about Jesus in the Temple, why were they so afraid of Saul? With all the miracles they witnessed Jesus perform, why did they find it hard to believe that Jesus could convert Saul? 

Further in the book of Acts, Saul becomes Paul and the main evangelizer of the Gentile, or non-Jewish, communities. I feel like I need to ask the question, what if Saul was not accepted into the community of the disciples? Would we have all the letters he wrote that makes up a portion of the New Testament? Would he have been able to preach to the Gentiles? Paul’s conversion and writings are key, even now within the evangelization efforts of the Church. I can’t picture how different the Church would be without his impact. What would have happened if fear also prevented Barnabas from taking action? 

Between what is written in the book of Acts as well as his letters, Paul did not have an easy time in his preaching. He was shipwrecked, stoned and left for dead, and had a number of other escapes to save his life. Was Paul fearful about his life on these occasions? Yet in his second letter to Timothy, Paul seems to know his end is near and calmly says he is “being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand.” (2 Tim. 4:6) Perhaps it is because of his difficult experiences that he is able to not to be afraid of death, but welcome it when it becomes imminent. 

Fear will be something that we will need to confront many times throughout our earthly life. Let us pray for open hearts to the Spirit’s promptings during these times, or for us to have a person like Barnabas to take charge and help us through our fear so that God’s will can be accomplished. 

Holy Tabernacle

Are you a holy tent? If you are a baptized Catholic who receives the Holy Eucharist, you certainly are! How can this be, if we are all sinners?

In reflecting on the Easter seasons and its readings, there are so many that point back to the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. This gift of Jesus is celebrated and adored throughout the year, but we pay special attention to it in the Easter season. During Mass, the hosts are consecrated and then distributed with any remaining then reserved in a tabernacle. The etymology of tabernacle comes from the Latin word for tent or hut. This evokes back to Exodus and when the Israelites wandered through the desert and a special tent was pitched for God to dwell amongst the people. God gave Moses specific instructions for its construction, consecration, the worship conducted within it, and its maintenance. While most think of a tabernacle as an item within a church building, made of elaborate metalwork, we forget that we who receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament then become, ourselves, living tabernacles of the Lord. Jesus is “pitching” His tent within us, each and every time we receive Him. Do we welcome His presence in this way? Or do we just acknowledge His closeness to give Him a list of our troubles that we need His help with? We all need God’s help in so many ways that it’s natural for us to unburden ourselves to Him. However, Easter is the perfect time to take a different perspective with our Eucharistic encounter at Mass. 

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor 6:19) The idea of a human person being a temple, tabernacle, or dwelling place of God, is acknowledged by Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. So, it’s not just when we receive Jesus in Mass that God dwells within us, but we are claimed as temples of the Holy Spirit from the time of our baptism. This gift of God is further reinforced with the sacrament of Confirmation, as we are sealed with the Spirit by the laying of hands by the bishop (or priest) and the sacred chrism oil. It is also these three sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist, that are considered the sacraments of initiation to become a Christian, a follower and disciple of Christ Jesus. And it is these three sacraments that are celebrated at the Easter Vigil or throughout the Easter season, depending on the needs and schedule of the parish.

God wants a personal relationship with us. Not just a quick visit once a week to check off that obligation, but to truly dwell in us at every moment of our lives. He sent His Son to be our Savior, the one who heals the brokenness caused when humanity chose their own desires over trust in God. God the Father and God the Son send God the Holy Spirit into the world to sanctify it, to make it holy so that we can have a relationship with the Triune God, listening to Him and trusting His will for us. One way we respond is to have a consistent prayer life, for example morning and evening prayer, or a daily rosary. It’s setting time aside to be attentive to God. 

God is not surprised when our human nature gets in the way. It’s why Jesus gave us Himself at the Last Supper, and upon His resurrection, directed the Apostles to receive the ability to forgive sins, something that only God can truly do. By frequenting the sacraments of Holy Communion and Reconciliation, we can better maintain the dwelling place within ourselves for God. No one, even the saints, is worthy to be a dwelling for God by his or her own merit. It is only through our cooperation with His Will for us that we can be a tent for God to dwell. And if we are a dwelling for God, then we bring Him everywhere we go and to everyone we meet. Others can see this reflection of God by our actions and our words. We embody the Trinity, that is we give our body as a reflection of our relationship with God to those we encounter. That is the makings of a saint, who dwells with God after his or her earthly life is complete.

During this seasonal focus on the Eucharist, let us take the time to think of God as living within us every day. Let us strive to be a Holy Tabernacle that pleases Him, welcomes His presence, and remains attentive to His call.

Who is Jesus

What would you say if someone asked you which holiday was more important: Christmas or Easter? How we answer this question can shape how we view Jesus and our relationship with Him.

From the perspective of society, Christmas seems much more popular and celebrated than Easter. We don’t have Easter parties all month long, nor do we celebrate in our workplaces, our neighborhoods, or in our hobbies/sports affiliations. Even those who don’t believe in Jesus will decorate a tree in their home and exchange gifts. Christmas preparations and celebrations can last from the middle of November into the beginning of the New Year. Easter seems to be a holiday that is acceptable to celebrate, but not completely embraced. There may be egg hunts, but those are usually activities for children. Children may get their picture taken with the Easter bunny, but the draw is not as intense as it is for Santa Claus, nor will the resulting photo be included in Easter cards that are sent out as holiday greetings.

Theologically, you can’t have Easter without Christmas. However, Jesus being born into the world was not the saving action; His Passion, Death, and Resurrection are what healed the relationship between God and humanity. Mother Church in her wisdom celebrates Easter for 50 days, which is much longer than the Christmas season. For those who attend Mass every Sunday, the Gospel is getting rather repetitive. For three weeks now we have heard the Resurrected Jesus appearing on that first day of the week. For those hoping this upcoming Sunday’s Gospel will be different, you’re only half correct. While the Gospel is not another aspect of Jesus appearing to His disciples, it is Good Shepherd Sunday. The second line is, “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) Being in the Easter season, it causes us to recall the Holy Triduum we celebrated just a few weeks ago. 

So why is Easter so important? Each year we are called to prepare during Lent for Easter. And each Easter season, we are called to renew our Baptismal promises. We hear again and again about the disciples seeing Jesus in His resurrected form. Each of these is an opportunity to renew our belief in and relationship with Jesus. If we believe that Jesus is who He said He is, the Son of God, then we can’t be satisfied with a wishy-washy faith. He can’t just be a nice man who told people to be nice to other people and had wise things to say. Belief in Jesus calls us to action; we are to be doers of the Word, not just hearers of the Word. At the same time, we can’t just run off on our own and think we know what Jesus wants us to do. We are all called with different gifts and skill sets. In order to act upon His Word, we need a relationship with Jesus, one we pursue as if our lives depended on it — because our everlasting lives do. 

Many think that Easter is long past, having been celebrated last month, and it is no longer relevant.  This couldn’t be further from the truth. Each Mass is both a mini Christmas and a mini Easter, celebrating Jesus coming in flesh and blood — hidden within the bread and wine — and recalls the Words from the Last Supper, the memory of His death and His resurrection. And every time we participate in Mass, we have the opportunity to seek a deeper relationship with Jesus and to give thanks to God for His amazingly generous love and mercy. 

In our ever-changing world, let us not lose sight of who Jesus is for us and pursue a relationship with Him, both in the Easter season and beyond. 

Beautiful brokenness

As we spend the next several weeks celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, I think most focus on the resurrection itself and less on the body. Now that the painful Passion is behind us, we can bathe in the love and immortality that God bestows on those who believe in His Son. But there is still a body to contend with; how do we understand the risen form of Jesus?

The Gospel of John presents two very different approaches to the resurrected Christ. The first account is of Mary Magdalene who upon recognizing Jesus embraced His feet. His response to her was “Stop holding on to me… .” (John 20:17) It seems a curious address to someone whom He loved. Jesus’ resurrected body, however, was not destined to stay on earth, but rather to return to God, the Father. The message He was conveying to Mary indicated that she should not expect for Him to remain. Jesus rose from the dead to illustrate that death was no longer a punishment, and it was just one part of His mission to reconnect humanity with God.

The second account in John’s Gospel is that of Thomas. (John 20:24-29) Most focus on “doubting Thomas” refusing to believe in the resurrection. Had he not seen Lazarus be returned from the dead at the words of Jesus? Why was it so hard for him to believe? Yet Jesus invites him to probe his wounds. For Mary Magdalene, she was to stop holding onto Jesus, but Thomas was invited to put his fingers in the nail holes and his hand in the side of Jesus that was pierced by the spear. While I feel sorry for Thomas to forever be remembered as someone who doubted Jesus, it is a powerful witness. If even those closest to Jesus had to slowly process the resurrection, it’s okay for those of us now who stumble with some of the facets of faith. When we have these times of doubt, we need to turn more to Jesus and ask Him to help us in our unbelief.

I think many want to believe that when we are resurrected, all our imperfections will be removed. Yet Jesus retained the wounds of His Passion. They may not have bled any longer, or were a source of pain, but they were still present. How is this possible? I’d like to think of it as a spiritual version of kintsugi, a Japanese technique of repairing broken objects with gold lacquer. Most of us, if we have something broken, want to hide the repair as much as possible. But in this repair process, the gold becomes the star of the show. What was once broken can now be used again, and it is beautiful because of the brokenness. Like Jesus, our wounds —physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual — will be healed through Him with a beauty that we cannot conceive. Any thoughts of what we may look like resurrected can only be a product of our limited imagination.

At each Mass we are called to encounter the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus when we receive the Holy Eucharist. It is a celebration of the Incarnation of Jesus as a human person from the moment of His conception and birth as well as His full divine nature of being the Son of God. While the outward appearance of bread and wine remain, the substance is forever transformed into the being of Jesus for us to receive. Here again the priest breaks the host, mingling a piece in the wine before offering to the congregation. While it may seem that Jesus’ body is divided amongst those who receive Him, in a spiritual perspective, we are the gold lacquer that brings His body together when we receive Him and then follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit to do the Father’s will. We bring beauty to Jesus on the cross when we share the love of God with others. And we can only do that when we offer our brokenness to God to heal.

“But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed.”

Isaiah 53:5

Deep roots

Happy Passover! No, I haven’t switched religions, but I did attend a seder meal hosted by a local catholic church the day prior to Holy Thursday. While I’ve read a number of books, especially by Dr. Scott Hahn, that dive into the connections between Passover and Mass, I was still surprised that the experience would affect me during the Triduum services. 

I would highly recommend for all Catholics to attend a seder meal at least once in their life if they are ever given the opportunity. Whether it be through a friend or family that is hosting it, or a parish church like the one I attended, as long as you have an English translation of what is being said, you will see the Mass emerge from the celebration. Participation; everyone is called to participate in the meal. While there are responses or actions for specific attendees — like the leader, the mother, and the younger children — many responses are spoken as the gathered community. The seder is a commemoration of the Passover meal the Israelites ate prior to their release from Egyptian slavery. As such, the beginning portion is spent teaching on the importance of remembering this event and thanking God for the deliverance. The Mass is a commemoration of the Last Supper that Jesus shared with His disciples, which happened to be a Passover meal. Having an understanding of the Passover meal, which the seder illustrates, allows Catholics to better appreciate and understand the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

While I do enjoy a small glass of wine with my meal from time to time, hearing that there are four glasses within the seder was a bit intimidating. I can usually make one glass last from appetizer through dessert, so as others were pouring the wine into my glass I appreciated their respect of pouring tiny amounts in my cup. One of the traditions is not pouring your own wine, but allowing others to pour it for you. The first cup, the cup of Blessing, is the first action after the general instructions of why the meal is celebrated. The second cup, the cup of Memory, is specifically aimed at the salvation God procured for the Israelites from their enslavers. One of the points the priest who led the seder meal pointed out was the wording in so many of the prayers, “Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe…” is similar to the prayer that is said over the bread and the wine after the gifts are presented at Mass, “Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation..” It seemed like each time there was a prayer, it began that way, and I felt I was waiting in anticipation for the events of the Last Supper.

Communion wafers are unleavened bread made from flour and water, and are a close cousin to the matzo that is served at the Passover meal. When the moment arrived for the breaking of the matzo and then consuming it, I thought, “This is it! This is when the Eurcharist was instituted!” And I was only half correct. One half of the Liturgy of the Eurcharist was established at that point in the meal. Poignantly, a portion of the bitter herbs are then eaten, followed by a mixture of both the bitter herbs and the matzo, or bread. Then commences the main meal. For this seder, it was more of a pot luck, so I don’t think a traditional seder would serve fried chicken and macaroni salad, but I did appreciate having a selection of foods from which to choose.

If you thought I’ve forgotten about the other glasses of wine, I have not. It was after the main meal was finished, we had the third cup, the cup of Redemption. I thought it was odd to have a glass of wine after a meal, but since I had food in my stomach and a short ride home, I figured another small glass would not be an issue. Oddly enough, the juxtaposition didn’t sink in until I was at Mass on Holy Thursday and as the priest raised the chalice to consecrate the wine, he said, “…when supper was ended…” YES! It was THIS particular point that Jesus instituted His Precious Blood, creating a New Covenant with not just His disciples present, but with all those who would share in this experience when they, and their successors, would do the same, “… in memory of Me.” This cup of redemption is the Blood that Jesus poured out during His Passion and Death on the Cross. 

In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Jesus remarks immediately after blessing and sharing the third cup, that He will not partake of the wine again until He partakes it in the new kingdom of God. It seems odd that Jesus would skip the fourth cup completely during a meal He wanted to share with his Apostles. But the fourth cup is the Cup of Hope and Freedom. And Jesus does drink it again, while on the cross in His final moments, those leading up to His death, which conquers all death and opens the gates of heaven again. The Passover meal didn’t end in the upper room, but rather concluded with the death of Jesus. But Jesus didn’t stay dead. Rather he rose again to show that He is the Lord of all creation and has brought healing and freedom to those who follow His way. 

For me, the best preparation for celebrating Easter has been to celebrate the Passover meal. It provided a perspective of the deep roots and traditions of the faith that have been handed down for thousands of years. The Mass has become more meaningful because of this experience. I’m sure if I am able to attend another seder in the future, it would help me unpack even more riches of the faith and I pray that we all have an opportunity to explore what a seder meal can offer our faith.

Mary at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington DC

The final sorrow

It seems fitting that during Holy Week, as we approach the Triduum, we pause to remember the seventh and final sorrow of Mary: Jesus is laid in the tomb. (John 19:39-42)

After a gruesome crucifixion, Jesus was really and truly gone from this life. The only thing left was to bury His remains. And the tomb seems to be a finality of his essence. All that promise of everlasting life, of healing, and of love, now seems lost. 

Due to the solemnity of the sabbath, Jesus had to be hastily buried. Even in the final moments of tending to His body, He could not receive the attentive preparation that was the norm. This must have added insult to pain Mary was already feeling from Jesus’ death. If Mary was there at the foot of the cross, I’m sure she was there at His tomb. Did she help arrange His body inside of the carved rock? Perhaps. Most likely, though, she had to watch as others rolled the large stone that sealed the entrance.

We know Mary had complete trust in God. If this was His will, while she may not have understood it completely, still she tried her best to be the support Jesus needed in His last moments. Did Mary stay and grieve at the rock tomb? I think anyone who has ever buried a loved one can have empathy for what Mary felt at that moment. The question of lingering because you don’t want to completely say goodbye, but knowing that there is nothing you can do and staying there staring at the gravesite will change nothing. Jesus did not leave her completely alone, as He put her into the care of the beloved apostle John. 

Mary still had a purpose on earth, and the first step was to keep living. That in itself can be its own sorrow — moving on when such a large portion of your life is absent. Even if Mary had understood all of Jesus’ teachings and knew He would rise again in three days, the pain of seeing Jesus being tortured to death may not have allowed Mary to focus on that future event. While the Acts of the Apostles record Mary as being present at Pentecost, perhaps that was not the only time the Apostles gathered around her. Maybe God allowed her to be present and be the unifying element for the Apostles in the time immediately after Jesus’ burial. Gathering around her, they would have shared their common grief and their common hope in God’s will. 

While most of the Apostles were looking for an earthly kingdom, the burial of Jesus gave them time to reflect on the time they spent with Jesus and all that He communicated to them. I can imagine the eleven men, maybe more and perhaps with the women who accompanied the traveling party, simultaneously shedding tears and recalling the events that had the most impact on them. This time of “remember when …” would be the first oral Gospel as they shared the memories, maybe even mingling some laughter in with the tears.

“…for nothing will be impossible for God,” the angel had told Mary at the Annunciation. (Lk 1:37) Those words ran deeper than just the incarnation of Jesus or the fruitfulness of her barren relative Elizabeth. God had given Mary the ability to cope with being exiled in Egypt, with losing Jesus in the Temple in His last vestige of childhood, with prompting Jesus to perform His first miracle, and with everything He accomplished in His ministry, even to His passion and death. I wouldn’t be disappointed if Mary felt overwhelmed with these last events, and perhaps it would make her seem more relatable if she did. However, in our moments of greatest trials, God has given us Mary as a role model to follow in trusting Him. When in our toughest challenges we can say that all things are possible for God and we can get through this, we do so because of what was shared in the Gospels about Mary.

The stone rolled to seal Jesus in His tomb, while it may have seemed final, was not the end of the story. Mary didn’t know how the story would end, but we do. We know that life does not simply end on earth, but the soul continues to live on and can potentially be in the presence of God and all who love Him. The tomb is the final sorrow, because what comes next will overwhelm any pain or trial. But to get there, Mary and all the disciples needed to lean on God for strength and support. They needed to trust in His will. 

Let us pray this Holy Week that we too, may trust in God even when things seem impossible, and ask Mary to help lead us through the finality of the tomb-like darkness we experience in this life. 

Back in her arms

In the first moments of His life, Mary held the baby Jesus. And after being taken down from the cross, Jesus’ body was  placed in her arms. It had come full circle. The sixth sorrow of Mary is Jesus being taken down from the cross. 

Over the years I’ve read many reflections upon the crucifixion, and it is significant to note that in this instance, the body of Jesus was removed from the cross. Usually the point of a crucifixion is to be a deterrent for others. The Romans wanted the bodies to be hung for the maximum amount of time to dissuade others from repeating the crimes of those who hung on the cross. Crucifixions always took place in a highly visible area, just outside of the city or town, so that as many people as possible could see them. It could take several days for a person to die on a cross. The bodies were left hanging for all to see and the scavenger birds picked at the remains. Guards were often stationed there to prevent families from removing and burying the bodies. For Pilate to grant Joseph of Arimathea permission to remove the body was surprising from the perspective of Roman tradition. However, since Pilate had not wanted to crucify Jesus, granting this favor may have been a way Pilate sought to relieve his guilt of his part in the death of an innocent man.

While the Gospels do not specifically state Mary’s presence during this event, each does describe the burial of Jesus beginning with Joseph of Arimathea receiving permission to remove and bury the body. But if Mary was present at the foot of the cross, how could she not be involved with His burial? With the strength and grace she received from God for this moment, it is only logical that she would cradle her Child one last time. As part of the stations of the cross, many depict Jesus removed from the cross and being placed in Mary’s arms. Perhaps the most iconic image of this is The Madonna della Pietà, informally known as La Pietà, a marble sculpture of Jesus and Mary located in the Vatican’s Saint Peter’s Basilica. Here a larger-than-life Mary holds Jesus’ lifeless body, with her serene demeanor illustrating her trust that this was God’s will. Jesus’ passionate suffering had come to a conclusion. Her suffering, however, lingered. She must face each moment now without Him. 

Mary keenly understands loss: the loss of a loved one, the loss of a child, and the loss of a family member convicted of a crime. We may not see her tears on the Pietà, but even with her trust in God, I’m sure she shed her fair share of them; just the sheer overwhelming emotion of Jesus’ Passion and Death would cause that. Sorrow and grief can only be relieved when we share the pain with others, otherwise it becomes a burden too heavy to carry. 

In these last days before Holy Week, let us pray to Mary to share her sorrowful burden, as well as for her to help us with ours. She is our mother too and wants to aid us in all our needs, carrying us in her arms like she did Jesus. 

The piercing moment

The fifth sorrow of Mary seems like it should be the last, but it is not.  It is, however,  the pinnacle of the life of Jesus. He was born of Mary to be crucified. His first throne was a manger; His last the cross. And Mary was there for it all. 

In reviewing each of the Gospels for this post, I found it interesting that Matthew and Mark mention several women named Mary, but not Jesus’ mother. Luke only mentions that the women who followed Jesus were there in the distance. How ironic that all the writers mention the women present at the crucifixion. Yet, it is John’s gospel that provides us with the exchange that Jesus gave to both John and Mary (John 19:26-27). How could her heart not ache with all the sufferings that Jesus had endured? This must have been the moment she remembered Simeon’s prophecy of the sword piercing her heart; yet she stood by the foot of the cross for her Son. 

If only it was just a moment. From the agony and arrest in the garden, to the trial by the Jewish and Roman leaders, then the scourging and crowning with thorns, followed by the carrying of the cross, Jesus had been through more than any human could endure. He was in the final stage of His Passion: nailed to a cross, lifted up and naked, condemned to a criminal’s death. The Roman soldiers passed the time by gambling for His garments. Others jeered and made fun of Him. Forgotten were all the miracles He performed. His only supporters were the youngest apostle and the women who assisted in His ministry. Did Mary know that Jesus was going to die? Did she stand at the cross hoping for a miracle? Perhaps. However, she said yes to God’s will before conceiving of Jesus, what else could she do but place Jesus into the hands of His Heavenly Father? Both Mary and Jesus put God’s will first, even though it had resulted in the death of Jesus. 

All too soon during this Lent, will be Passion Sunday, where Jesus’ Passion and Death are proclaimed as the gospel reading. I think it’s only human nature to want to get through it as quickly as possible. Not because it’s a long reading, but because it reminds us of what price Jesus paid for our sins. The price He paid so that we could have a relationship with Him, with God our Father, and with the Holy Spirit. Too often we overemphasize Jesus’ resurrection, and to some degree, we should. But we also need to remember that in order to rise, Jesus had to die. And He didn’t just die quickly and rise immediately. Jesus suffered many types of torture: mental, physical, and emotional before His death. He stayed dead for three days to illustrate that He truly died, and it wasn’t just a coma or trance that He experienced. 

As we journey through these last few weeks of Lent, let us offer up our sacrifices and penances to Mary as a symbolic way to keep her company as she stood by the foot of the cross. Perhaps she can, in turn, present them to God to assist and comfort those who are in mourning. Mary, Mother of Sorrows, pray for us.