Lent with Loretto, week three: the third sorrow of Mary
Posted on March 6, 2026, by Loretto Community
The Third of the Seven Sorrows: Jesus is lost in the temple
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
Reflection
By Kathleen Corbett SL
This is a familiar story. As we hear it today, let’s see ourselves present, feeling, listening, touching what is happening and how we fit into the picture.
A reading from the second chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel.
Every year His parents used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When He was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without His parents knowing it. They assumed He was with the caravan, and it was only after a day’s journey that they went to look for Him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find Him they went back to Jerusalem, looking for Him everywhere.
Three days later, they found Him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard Him were astounded at His intelligence and His replies. Mary and Joseph were overcome when they saw Him, and His mother said to Him, “My child, why have You done this to us? See how worried Your father and I have been, looking for You.” “Why were you looking for Me?” He replied. “Did you not know that I must be busy with My Father’s affairs?” But they did not understand what He meant.
He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority, His mother stored all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and people.
The Gospel of the Lord.
One Easter Sunday it came to me that there was a sort of parallel in Mary’s life to this earlier experience of three days.
Backing up to the time before Jesus stayed behind in the Temple, I have wondered whether after going every year for the Passover feast, if this time He had expressed how He was looking forward to the journey, without going into detail; or did it just turn out that once there, He was invited or somehow drawn to remain, talking with the elders. Because it seems to be a case of what was He thinking in not telling Mary and/or Joseph His plans?
In any case, this sorrow for both Mary and Joseph was the kind that is terrifying, the near panic of what on earth could have happened, where could Jesus possibly be? The sort of suffering that desperately hangs onto trust, praying and searching as imagination takes off; and for people who lived lives of responsible, careful concern for each other, a three-day trial that must have seemed forever! Where did they spend each night, if they could even sleep, before getting up to keep trying to find Him? Loss of any kind can be frustrating and stressful, but loss of a loved one, especially a child, so agonizing!
Closing Prayer
By Mary Gutzwiller SL
Spirit of Love – be with mothers of the lost and disappeared.
Spirit of Consolation – grant these mothers comfort in the midst of emptiness.
Spirit of Courage – grant them confidence in the midst of panic and fear.
Spirit of Perseverance – grant these mothers strength in the midst of uncertainty.
Spirit of Healing – grant them relief in the midst of self-blame and grief.
Spirit of Life – grant these mothers light in the midst of darkness.
Spirit of Holiness – may we listen to their stories as they remember.
Spirit of Wisdom – may we find ways to give these mothers peace.
Spirit of Gentleness – may we show them kindness in their daily struggles.
Spirt of Accompaniment – may we stand with these mothers as they seek justice.
Spirit of Compassion – may we hold them in our arms, may we hold them in our hearts, may we hold them in our prayer.
O, Spirit of Great Love – be with mothers of the lost and the disappeared.
