Lent with Loretto, week one: The first sorrow of Mary

The First of the Seven Sorrows: Mary listens to Simeon’s prophecy that a sword will pierce her heart.

Let us pray: From I Am The Way

“As friends of Mary, mother of Jesus and woman of faith, we unite ourselves with her seven sorrows and frequently invoke her intercession.”

A reading from the Gospel of Luke

Luke 2: 27-35

Reflection

By Donna Day SL

Mary, Mother of God, could not know the theologian Soren Kierkeguard words when he wrote, “We live our lives forward but understand them backward.” To begin our reflection today we go backwards for a moment to Mary ruminating over the Word of God some years before the temple visit.

After the shepherds leave the stable, and having shared what the angels said, Luke writes, “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

As the days passed and as an observant Jew, Mary would carry out the customs of fulfilling Torah while celebrating with Joseph the rituals assigned as part of their commitment to the heritage of their ancestors. Jesus’ presentation in the temple was one of those rituals.

The day they arrived at the temple:

Simeon scoops Jesus up for the required rituals, a dramatic time for Mary. She hears Simeon’s canticle that praises God for allowing his old eyes to see the coming of redemption to Israel and the Gentiles.
Like all of the ritual feast days, this Presentation of Jesus in the Temple foretells his identity as the long awaited Messiah who will reveal the God of Israel to the Gentiles and in the important sweep of history, foreshadows the Paschal Mystery.

Mary’s Lent has begun.

Mary hears the tone of the Temple scene changing as Simeon utters an ominous oration:
The child will be a sign of contradiction, and as for his mother, “a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

As I read Simeon’s words, I wonder – What did Simeon really know? What did Mary wonder at this prophecy?

We know the many times this prophecy of Simeon would come true: Jesus being lost in the temple, Jesus’ suffering and in many ways being misunderstood, Jesus on the cross. Was Mary there in all these times? Scripture does not really tell us. Scholars wonder and suggest that the prediction of the sword implies a discernment moment for Mary – as she hears the word of God and eventually experiences Jesus’ mission to the cross.

Even though Gospel writers are not in agreement about her presence in the various appearances of Jesus life we know that Mary was called in love for the world. Her yes to God was to express a conviction already within her – a conviction, a truth that was to help give shape to her life and to ours.

Mary listened and even as she spoke little in recorded history, we can follow her words for she knew Jesus and lived the words of Simeon over and over: “A sword will pierce your heart.” Mary knew that her Son was the fulfillment of Jewish hope and expectation. Luke’s writings finally tell us, “They returned to Galilee and the child grew strong and the blessing of God was upon him.”

Like Mary, realizing that accepting God’s revelation of himself in the Infant of Bethlehem, we must also realize that this acceptance has real consequences for our lives. If we accept this person as our God, as Mary ultimately did, then we accept our obligation to belong to him, to follow him, as he sets his eyes on Jerusalem and eventually to the Cross – the eternal sign of love.

We in Loretto honor the seven sorrows of Mary as we accept the compassionate, liberating God of the promise. For all of the sorrows that she knew would come her way, Mary kept walking her journey of faith with God. A journey of faithful trust. It is a journey in our time we now call Lent and beyond.

Be with Mary as she ponders the message of the future for herself and for her family – it is a paradoxical play of joy and sorrow, light and darkness that touches her life as a woman, wife, mother and disciple.

Who are the Marys of our time living in a prophecy of sorrow?

• Mary didn’t know how many women would die in childbirth in countries around the world… but we know.
• Mary didn’t know how many mothers would see their sons killed on the streets of our cities… but we know.
• Mary didn’t know how many children would grow up without fathers in their home… but we know.
• Mary didn’t know how governments would treat immigrants… but we know.
• Mary didn’t know how many sorrows would come to fill her heart, but in accepting this prophecy from Simeon, she does so as a strong woman of Israel… and we know.

Pause now to consider:

• Suffering has the potential to teach us wisdom. How has your experience of sorrow or suffering brought you closer to God?