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TODAY’S WORD…

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All you who pass by the way, look and see,

was there ever a sorrow to compare with my sorrow.

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– Lamentations 1:12

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REFLECTION…

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We will never entirely comprehend Mary’s immense love for Jesus

which is the cause of her great suffering.

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All you who pass by the way, look and see,

was there ever a sorrow to compare with my sorrow.

These words from the prophet Jeremiah

could have been uttered by Our Lady.

Her anguish is incomparable.

Her love for her Son

allows her to endure His sufferings as though they were her own:

‘When the soldiers strike the body of Christ,

it is as if Mary is subjected to every blow.

When they pierce His head with thorns,

Our Lady feels their sharp penetration.

When the same men offer Him gall and vinegar,

the Blessed Mother tastes all the bitterness.

As they spread His body on the cross,

Mary is torn from within.’ (A. Tanquerey, The Divinization of Suffering)

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The more a person loves,

the more he or she identifies with the pain of the beloved,

and Mary’s sorrow was incomparable

because her Son, who she felt a natural strong maternal love for,

was also the Son of the Living God;

was also her beloved God and Creator.

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During the Lord’s public ministry

Mary hears false rumours and calumnies regarding her Son.

She is also aware of the various plots of the Jews against Jesus.

She is there as reports arrive, one by one,

concerning the events taking place during the night of the Passion.

She hears the shouts calling for His death the next morning.

She experiences His abandonment by the disciples.

She meets her Son, on the slope leading up to Calvary…

Oh the agony that must have engulfed her heart at this juncture!

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She stands there and sees how they nail Him to the Cross.

Horrible insults and the prolonged torment of the crucifixion follow.

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All of this Jesus suffered for our sins

and as we consider the active role that our iniquities play

in the sorrow of His Mother, our Mother,

we call upon her and ask her to help us share in her suffering

through profound contrition for all our sin.

We call upon her to help us be more determined and generous

in making reparation for our own offences against God

as well as for the ones committed in the world every day.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now

and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.