A heartfelt homily for the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, connecting Mary’s pain with the silent sacrifices of mothers in our families. (15-9-25)
Praise be to Jesus Christ
There was once a fisherwoman who worked very hard to feed her family. Each day she went to the market carrying her basket of fish. Sometimes people argued with her and refused to pay a fair price. She returned home tired, her hands smelling of the sea, but she never came empty-handed. Her husband was sick and could not go to work, yet she quietly bore the burden of the whole house. One evening, seeing her exhausted, the father spoke to the children. He said, “Your mother carries us all. She does not mind hunger or pain, she does not mind the insults of the market, but when you children do not show her love and respect, that is the deepest wound in her heart.”
Today we celebrate Our Lady of Sorrows, and this story is close to her life. In the Gospel we hear, “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother.” Mary bore all the sorrows of life silently. She carried the weight of prophecy when Simeon said a sword would pierce her soul. She carried the pain of flight into Egypt, the loss of the Child in the Temple, and finally, she carried the unspeakable grief of seeing her Son crucified. Yet she stood. She did not collapse. She stood with faith and courage.
The Church remembers her seven great sorrows. But the saints tell us there can be an “eighth sorrow” when we, her children, live in sin. Like the fisherwoman who does not mind insults or hunger but feels crushed when her own children do not respect her, Our Lady can bear the swords of her life, but the sorrow of children turning away from her Son is deeper still.
The Old Testament recalls Rachel, who wept for her children because they were no more. Mary is the new Rachel, weeping for us when we wander from God. At the cross Jesus said, “Behold, your mother.” These words make us her children forever. To hurt her by careless living is to add a new wound to her heart.
Saint John Paul II reminded us that Mary’s motherhood is universal. She belongs to all of us. When we neglect prayer, when we forget our families, when we live without faith, it is as if we are pushing away her hand of care. But when we love one another, when we forgive, when we stand firm in trials, we become her joy.
In our villages, we see many mothers like the fisherwoman. They work in the field or at the market. They eat less so that the children may eat more. They sleep last and wake first. But their greatest sorrow is not poverty, not hunger, not sickness. Their greatest sorrow is when their children do not care for them, do not listen, do not love. Mary is the same.
Saint John of the Cross said, “Love is proved by deeds.” If Mary is truly our Mother, let us prove our love by our lives. Let us not add one more tear to her eyes. Instead, let us console her by praying together, by living faithfully, by carrying our crosses with courage, and by standing with her Son as she stood at Calvary.
On this feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, let us make sure that our lives are not her “eighth sorrow” but her comfort and her joy.
Jesus , Do not allow Mother Mary to be pushed into sorrow due to our sin…
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