Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Tuesday of the 24th week in ordinary time, September 15, 2026,Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.
The theme for our meditation today is: The Forgiving Mother. Today the Church celebrates Our Lady of Sorrows. The Virgin Mary's experience of grief was closely related to the suffering of Jesus Christ in the way of the cross. At the time when Jesus underwent the whole process of death punishment, He was alone. The apostles left Him, except for His mother and the disciple He loved so much, John. Mary, the Mother of Jesus and three other women were near at the foot of the cross.
There at the foot of the cross, the Virgin Mary experienced the peak of grief, namely the death of the Son who was born through her womb. Long before that, when the baby Jesus was offered in the temple, Simeon had predicted that Mary would meet the terrible suffering, a sword that pierced her heart. Furthermore, she participated in the journey of the cross until Jesus' final moment at Calvary. Many members of the Church consider Mary a martyr in the spirit. However, Mary did not lose hope and give up because of these sorrows and loss. Her sorrows and difficulties were sustained by faith in God and love for her Son.
The sign of her strong faith is her unity with Jesus. Our Lady has the power of forgiveness which is equal to Jesus' power to forgive sinners, and we can see this as Jesus Himsef spoke from the cross: "Father, forgive them because they don't know what they are doing." The Blessed Mother was the witness of this. From the cross, Jesus also mandated His mother to adopt all her followers of all generations, and the beloved disciple, who was with the Virgin Mary, represented them all. So, Mary was willing to take up the duty to care for all people including those who executed her Son, they too would be forgiven, freed from sins and return to the truth of God.
Until now, Mary, in her unity with Jesus Christ, feels sad when she sees disciples of her Son fall into sins and try hard to free themselves from the grip of evil. Any follower of Christ who falls into sin clearly brings pain and sorrows to the body of Christ, which is the holy Church. If some members of the Church sin and live with evil, they surely affect the others. Even though this grieving is hard for us to avoid, Our Lady from her merciful heart asks Jesus Christ to forgive and transform us. Part of the Church's prayer "Hail Mary", which goes " Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners ..." is the most obvious expression of how Our Lady is always there to help us sinners.
As we reflect on the sorrows of Our Lady, this should remind us not to constantly cause her grief and sadness because we continue to sin anytime in our lives. This is the same as we do not want to constantly cause our own mothers at home sad and grieving because of our bad attitudes and carelessness.
Let's pray. In the name of the Father ... O Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us to always have true and enduring devotion to Mary, our mother who always forgives. Hail Mary, full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...
