Mary, Mother of Sorrows

Mary, Mother of Sorrows: The Fifth Sorrow, Standing beneath the Cross--As Jesus undergoes the agonizing pain of crucifixion, Mary hears her Son cry out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” She is unable to say anything that would comfort Him. His experience of abandonment pierces His soul and hers as painfully as the nails have piercingly been driven through His wrist and feet and Mary’s heart! 

Mary witnesses her Son speak His truth even on the cross, expressing His feeling of being deserted, left utterly alone  and asking His Father “why?”  “Where are you, Father, when I need you so desperately?   There is no way Mary can give an answer to that “why?” or bring relief in any way. Here her intercessory power seems to be silenced.

Her pain is a parents’ pain when nothing they do makes a difference in their child’s life. Every child must endure consequences to their actions that parents cannot mediate. The consequences of Jesus’ actions—being true to His Father’s mission of showing all of humankind mercy, of loving us to death literally, proclaiming a Kingdom of justice—led to Calvary. The consequences of a child’s  actions, when their choices are not in accord with God’s will and, in fact, are in violation of the law of the land, can lead to an arrest, prison time and, sometimes, death.  A parent stands as helpless as Mary did beneath the cross. She knows the pain of powerlessness and, with every parent, she stands by their side as well.  She stands at the side of every person who is helpless to change the outcome of choices that lead to devastating consequences and to an agony that words cannot express.