If you have seen the movie The Passion of the Christ you know that one of the most striking persons in the film apart from Jesus is Mary, His Mother. She appears in a doleful cameo all along the way of His suffering. The movie makes clear what our Catholic tradition has always held, that Mary accompanied Jesus in all of His sufferings. What Jesus experienced in His bodyMary experienced in her heart.
We cannot imagine the interior sufferings she endured from Thursday night through Saturday. From the cruel scourging, the crowning with thorns, the journey to Calvary, the nails, the spear, and finally to the descent from the cross, she was there with her Son. What a torrent of sorrow for the sinless Mother! And yet she is described in the famous hymn: “At the cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to Jesus to the last.” In spite of all the sufferings she endured she was able to stand by the cross. What a model of constancy and inner strength in the face of suffering!
The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary remind us that Jesus suffered the worst that human cruelty could devise. Mary was also there; she remained even when the Apostles fled in fear. Her compassionate heart was totally united with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. When we suffer let us remember Jesus and Mary. Our Christian faith should strengthen us in the hour of suffering because Jesus and Mary also went through terrible sufferings. Yes, our God is great not only because of his power and majesty but also because He has become one like us “in everything but sin”. And this “everything” includes suffering. We may not have an answer to human suffering, but we have a God who accompanies us in this “valley of tears”. Christianity is the religion of hope even in the midst of sorrows. In that hope let us continue our Lenten journey
with confidence.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Hildebrand
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