This feast refers to the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Mother of God. They enumerate specific events in the life of Mary in relation to the Lord Jesus. They give the message that Mary, as a mother and a disciple, was not spared from pains and miseries. They give us the idea that if the Mother of God herself experienced them, we too, as children of God and disciples of the Lord will be subject to some sorrows in their following the will of God. But we know, as in the case of the Blessed Virgin, that these are not ends by themselves but opportunities to show our faith in God the way Mary dealt with them. These seven sorrows provide the milieu for the exposure of the devil's ways and how it will be defeated by faith and God;s power. In all of these sorrows, let us be reminded that Mary was encountering a lot of temptations to abandon the mission given to her by God. It was not easy for her. The decision to just get away from these sorrows was very attractive. But Mary endured them all. Mary stuck to her commitment that God's Will be done. And so, together with her Son, they came out victorious!
For purposes of further reflections, the seven sorrows are; (i.) the prophecy of Simeon while the Holy Family was in the temple on their way to offer Jesus. (ii) the Holy Family's flight into Egypt because of the threat of Herod. (iii) Jesus was lost in the Temple for three days. (iv) Jesus' carrying of the cross to Calvary. (v) Jesus' crucifixion. (vi) The taking down of Jesus from the cross and Mary carried the dead Jesus in her arms. (vii) Jesus was laid in the tomb.
I myself can enumerate my own seven sorrows. But just like Mary and most of us, we are not just talking about seven sorrows in our lifetime. Definitely, we will encounter and go through thousands of sorrows. but there are some sorrows which we can consider as critical and crucial in our lives. They can break or make us. Mary made use of those sorrows to show her faithfulness to God. We too must have the same attitude against those sorrows. Rather than be affected by them, the Christian will use them against the very source of those sorrows! One of those sorrows I had was when the donor of the main door of the church (which is all good wood and quite expensive) backed out because his requirement to put the names of his late relatives along the edges was not granted. He also wanted the size of the names to be an inch tall! I thought the donation was substantial and I really wanted to accommodate his request. I suggested a more conspicuous place for those names but he would not settle for anything less than what he already stated. I prayed over the request and it dawned on me that if I would agree to it, we might end up with a church full of names of donors, dead or alive! I called the donor and told him the sad news that I can not grant his request. He told me that it was unfortunate and that he will instead donate the money for scholarship. I responded that it might be a better idea.
I was not remiss in my responsibility to remind that prospective donor about the consequences of his request. That instead of being honored, his relatives might be dishonored by comments against the placing of those names. Also, I reminded him of the essence of giving; ask nothing in return and donate in thanksgiving to God for those gifts. The explanations were not enough for him. I was sad because we lost a donor. I was happy because we stood by our principles. I gave that donor the opportunity to do an authentically good deed. I gave that donor the opportunity to responsibly make use of the graces given to him by God. But he declined.
I did not lose hope after that. I knew that God will provide. I knew that there will be a way. And true to my hope, somebody approached me and told me that a group of people had decided to raise the money for the door among themselves. They heard about what happened between me and the donor. They agreed that the request of the donor must not be granted. And they agreed to provide the money needed for it. Sorrow turned into joy!
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