SORROW.
It is often regarded to be negative, often expected to lead us towards sadness. But if SORROW truly is a saddening word, then how could our Mother take on a character of, “Our Lady of Sorrows”? Surely, there must be something good in this if our Mother could carry the name in holiness…
By its definition, SORROW means, “a feeling of deep distress”; it does not mean sadness… I believe that sadness is automatically assumed to follow sorrows because we LET IT. But what if instead of allowing sadness to creep in, we allow our sorrows to lead us to SALVATION?
What caused our Lady to take on the character of Our Lady of Sorrows? Because by the name and will of the Lord, she allowed her sorrows to strengthen her rather than bring her down! According to the Dogmatic Constitution of the Catholic Church (#58), “She stood in keeping with the divine plan, suffering grievously with her only-begotten Son. There she united herself, with a maternal heart, to His sacrifice, and lovingly consented to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth.” What makes this so great to me is how Mary portrays how real and possible it is to let our SORROWS LEAD TO SALVATION; IT CAN ONLY BE DONE WITH A DEEP LOVE FOR THE LORD, like His love for us…
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart.”
(Jeremiah 29: 11-13)
If we are with the Lord, then we cannot remain “depressed” or lay in sadness, for like Mary, even at the foot of the cross where her Son stood nailed before her, she united her heart with the Lord and trusted in His divine plan; a plan for welfare and not for evil. Through his death on the cross, her Son defeated evil and opened the gates to our salvation. And as she BEHELD and PONDERED, the Lord took care of her:
“When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold your Mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his home.”
(John 19: 26-27)
God provided for her and took care of her in her times of sorrow… WHY? Because she kept trust in His divine plan despite of her sorrows. And it is in the Lord, and with the guidance and example of our Mother that we can find SALVATION IN OUR SORROWS.