Mary, Mother of Sorrows

Mary, Mother of Sorrows:  This week we will reflect on the fourth sorrow of Mary, the loss of Jesus in the Temple.  For three days, Mary and Joseph did not know where their Son was.  Did the worst happen to Him?  Was He kidnapped and put to death?  Did the authorities who searched to kill Him at His birth discover who He was and were they plotting to find Him on this particular occasion?  Mary and Joseph must have suffered sheer agony at the loss of Jesus. For three days, they had no idea where their Son was.  Every day of Mary’s life she must have worried that something horrible would happen to Him, as she pondered the prophesy of Simeon, “…your child is destined…to be a sign that will be opposed…and a sword will pierce your own soul….(Lk 2:34).  Was this the loss about which Simeon was talking?

Mary knows the agony of parents who lose a child, no matter how that loss occurs: snatched by a sexual predator, kidnapped by an ex-spouse, in danger of being abused/murdered by an ex seeking revenge.  Mary knows the emotional devastation imHim Hia parent experiences when she “loses” a child to drugs and alcohol or to any other addiction that consumes a child’s life and blocks any hope of a significant connection.  She knows the agony of “losing” a child to a mental illness.  She even knows the pain parents experience when their child is old enough to go out on his/her own, get married and leaves home for good. 

Do you seek Mary’s help when you are going through a loss?  You may be surprised by her ability to empathize, to offer support, to give you the strength you need.