24th Week of Ordinary Time C – Monday – Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Blessed Mother stood at the foot of the Cross and witnessed first-hand that which a mother should never have to witness—the execution, the death, the brutal murder of her Son. But this was not just any son. This was the Son of God. He was God—God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.

Now imagine her seeing Him do nothing but good throughout His life. We are normally drawn to good people. We say, “Oh, so-and-so is such a nice man, so easy to talk to,” or “so-and-so is such a great woman, so generous with the poor.” Goodness attracts us, and rightly so, for it ought to have a high place in our hearts and in the way we conduct our own lives.

And so when we see Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world, who did nothing but teach us, guide us, and love us, all the more was her sorrow—the sorrow of His mother, intensified.

In Malta, we have a very special devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. Many processions go out, and pilgrims will follow faithfully behind. Many of them even walk barefoot, offering some kind of penance to unite with the heart of this Mother who laments over the hatred and the sin of the world.

I had an uncle, a very special man—my Uncle Joe. He looked after his family as a typical Maltese man would. He loved everything about his culture. He used to love going back home, spending time with the family, with his side of the family and even my mother’s side.

In his later years, he fell ill. My cousin once told me that he had a very special devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. So much so, in fact, that whenever they would take her statue out in procession from the parish where he grew up, he would take a video recording of her. Those were the days of the video recorder. And my cousin told me that he would always have tears streaming down his eyes.

Now, if you knew my uncle, I don’t think I had ever seen him cry. But something about our Blessed Mother, wounded and sorrowful, touched his heart. And so he had a very personal devotion to her.

In 2017, eight years ago to this very day, on September 15th—the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows—early in the morning, she came to take him home. And if not directly home, then to introduce him to eternity. Therefore, if he is still in purgatory, I ask you to pray for my uncle. I will be offering Mass today for the repose of his soul.

I share this with you to show how attentive our Blessed Mother’s heart is to each and every one of us. She comes to us in our sorrows. And so we pray that at the hour of our death, she will be there to defend us, to protect our souls from all evil, and to guide us into everlasting light.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. Let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul rest forever in peace. Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.