September 15, 2004 - Wednesday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time

Our Lady of Sorrows

HYMN TO CHARITY

Readings:
1 Tm 2:1-8; Ps 28:2, 7, 8-9; Jn 19:25-27

Introduction

People who want to carry out their mission in life have often a high price to pay. Jesus continued his mission of love of doing the Father's will to save us and was nailed to the cross for it. Mary had been told by Simeon that she would suffer for and with her Son. When a child suffers, also the mother suffers. Yet she too was faithful to her mission of giving Jesus to the world. The closer one is to the Lord, the closer one often is to his cross.

Opening Prayer

Lord God,
we know that sorrow and pain
are inescapable in this life
for those who follow your crucified Son.
Give us enough trust in you
to remain faithful to you
and to believe and hope in your love
even in the depth of suffering.
Give us the courage
to face the hardships of life
and to bear one another's crosses
in union with Mary, our sorrowing Mother,
inn the service of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading Introduction:
       St Paul gives us today his famous hymn to Christian love. It is greater than any charism, for charisms are vain if not rooted in love. Look at all the great things that love produces. Love will never pass, for all the rest is vowed to disappear.

First Reading: Heb 5: 7 - 9

Christ, in the days if his mortal life, offered his sacrifice with tears and cries. He prayed to him who could save him from death, and he heard because of his humble submission. Although he was Son, he learned through suffering what obedience was, and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for those who obey him.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 28:2, 7, 8-9

R (6) Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my prayer.

Hear the sound of my pleading, when I cry to you,
lifting up my hands toward your holy shrine.
R Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my prayer.

The LORD is my strength and my shield.
In him my heart trusts, and I find help;
then my heart exults, and with my song I give him thanks.
R Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my prayer.

The LORD is the strength of his people,
the saving refuge of his anointed.
Save your people, and bless your inheritance;
feed them, and carry them forever!
R Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my prayer.

Gospel Introduction:
       Luke compares those who reject Christ and God's prophets to spoiled children. Jews, and later the pagans for whom Luke writes, see John the Baptist and Jesus and the things they say and do, but they do not recognize these signs.

Gospel Reading: Jn 19:25-27

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw the Mother, and the disciple whom he loved, he said to the Mother, "Woman, this is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "There is your mother." And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home.

Commentary

IT was women who featured most prominently at this first real altar of sacrifice, Calvary. So, the three women who stood by Jesus (in a most literal sense) were his mother, a relative, and his friend Mary Magdalene. They showed greater fidelity and courage than the men, nearly all of whom had run away.

I came across this remarkable prayer from the Methodist Service Book, "I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing." That prayer may appear to some as an expression of purely passive spirituality; or some may describe it as "feminine." But just think: how could you defeat a person who could truly pray that prayer? It would be impossible. Far from being an expression of weakness, it is an expression of the uttermost strength. Any spirituality that lacked this kind of strength would be shallow and partial. The Cross may look like weakness, but it is the power of God. And "God's weakness is stronger than human strength" (1Cor 1:25).

Intentions

- That our anemic and dried-up love may become rich and spontaneous, like a fresh breath of life and joy brightening the lives of those around us and a wordless song of praise to God, we pray:

- That we may be reliable friends to those marked by suffering in any form; that we may let them feel God's presence by the warmth of our presence, we pray:

- That people may not lose their heart in today's economic system of profit, production and competition but seek human relationships of respect, love and friendship, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

God of our happiness,
with our human wisdom
we seek happiness without pain,
glory without sacrifice.
But in your divine wisdom,
or foolishness as Paul calls it,
give us here your Son Jesus Christ
to teach us again the value of the cross.
With Mary we want to serve him
who is our Lord who died an rose again,
and our Savior for ever.

Prayer after Communion

Our living and loving God,
in this holy meal we have celebrated
the death and resurrection of Jesus, your Son
and proclaimed suffering and death
as a painful, but necessary way
to lasting glory an happiness.
Let this eucharist be our strength
to carry the burdens of life
and to learn from Mary
to stand by the side of all
in whom suffers your Son and hers,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing

May love not be just something we are supposed to do, but something we do naturally and with great joy. May that love never end, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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