"We too are given to each other, by Jesus, through the church, to care for one another in our sorrow"
The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows
September 15, 2020
Today, Tuesday, September 15th, is the Feast of our Lady of Sorrows. This title was given to Mary, centuries ago, to focus on her intense suffering and grief during the passion and death of her son, Jesus. Although some writings would place the roots of this feast in the 11th or 12th centuries, it wasn’t until the 14th and 15th centuries that the feast and devotion to our lady of sorrows was widespread throughout the church. This feast was inserted into the Roman calendar in the early 19th century. And it was Pope Pius X, who fixed the permanent date of September 15th in the early 20th century. Placing this feast the day after the Feast of the Holy Cross (which we celebrated yesterday) shows the close connection between Jesus’s Passion and Mary’s sorrows.
The Gospel for today is from John 19:25-27. It places us at the foot of the cross where Jesus gives Mary and the disciple whom he loved to each other to care for each other. Reflecting on this passage, I am moved by the compassion of Jesus for his mother’s suffering and that of the disciple whom he loved. Even in his own suffering, Jesus is aware of the suffering of others. As Mary, our Mother, continues to be a consoler of all those who suffer, we too, are called to console and care for those suffering around us.
It is an honor for me to be here at MPB coordinating the ministries of care in our community. I am blessed daily as I see this community care for each other in so many ways. In this Touchstone today, I share with you some of the ways we care for one another though the ministries of Pastoral Care.
The song chosen for today is “We Are One Body” by Dana Scallon. This is a song that we sing here at MPB. It was the Theme Song for World Youth Day here in Denver in 1993. It’s refrain, “We are one body, one body in Christ. And we do not stand alone,” reminds us that we are one body in Christ. And as the body of Christ; the hands and feet of Jesus, we care for one another in our struggles and suffering so that no one stands alone.
If you would like more information of any of the Pastoral Care Ministries here at MPB, please visit our website at mpbdenver.org. Thank you for the love and care you give to one another in this community in the struggles and sufferings we face.
God bless and be well,
Christine Maschka
Director of Pastoral Care
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In this same vein, as an accompanying song I went scavenging through my own archives to find a favorite piece that I used to sing fairly often. Not really a church composition, per se, it is a song by Stephen Schwartz about being open and prepared enough to recognize when something amazing comes along and being ready take a chance, make the change necessary and embrace the unimagined possibilities of a greater, joy-filled life.
I hope you are all continuing to be well and to actively and intentionally hunt the good moments and savor them when you can.
God Bless,
Fr. Pat
Tuesday of the Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel | John 19:25-27
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
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 into his home.
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
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 into his home.
We Are One Body composed by Dana Scallon
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