Mary, Mother of Sorrows

Mary, Mother of Sorrows: Mary is standing beneath the cross and hears Jesus say: “It is consummated.”  Jesus proclaims the completion of His mission.  He has redeemed humankind, reopened the gates of heaven for all of creation. Sin has been destroyed. Our sins nailed to the cross. Death has no more power over us.  What a relief this must have been for Mary.  It is the relief every person experiences who says about a loved one who has just left this world: He/she is now in a better place.  As the mother of Trayvon Martin recently proclaimed: “Trayvon is now wearing his hoodie in heaven”.

As Jesus dies there is a terrible earthquake. The earth is wrapped in darkness. Mary hears someone say: “Truly this was the Son of God,” a truth Mary and John, standing beside her, already knew. What about you and I? What might I have been thinking if I had witnessed Jesus’ death and heard these last words: “It is consummated,” and “Into your hands I commend my spirit”?