Mary, Mother of Sorrows

Mary, Mother of Sorrows:  This week we are reflecting on the second sorrow of Mary, the flight into Egypt to protect her infant Son from harm.  Mary listened to Joseph when he told her that they needed to leave the placed they called home and flee into Egypt, a foreign country, unknown territory, separate from friends and family and that which felt familiar to her.  Her heart must have been heavy with grief. Displacement, under any circumstances, is discombobulating, painful and difficult.

Mary, like Jesus, knows and understands our pain when we are displaced, feel abandoned, misunderstood, isolated and left alone to fend for ourselves with no tangible support. She is an advocate for refugees, persons dislocated because of civil unrest, war, violence of any kind, natural disasters, transfers to new locations by virtue of marriage, job promotions, or, as a member of a religious community, transferred to a new mission, a new ministry, a new local community, a foreign mission. Mary goes with us! Mary knows the way through this maze of unknowing, of reaching out to strangers, of making our way in unfamiliar territory, “swimming” in uncharted waters (uncharted for us, that is). Let us tap her as a resource, as someone who can help us when we are unsure, scared, and anxious.

With her, may we have the faith to believe in others whom God provides as protectors, as persons who will lead “our donkeys through the wilderness,” will find us a place to take root and help us tap into our inner strength and creative energies to, not only survive, but thrive and discover opportunities we never would have had if we had refused to “relocate” physically, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically.