15/09/2025
*MY CATHOLIC* *HOMILY* *DIGEST*
*DATE* : 15/9/2025
*EVENT* : Monday Of The Twenty Fourth Week Of Ordinary Time Year/Our Lady Of Sorrows (Memorial)
*COLOUR*: White
*READINGS* : Heb 5:7-9; Ps 31:2 and 3b, 3cd-4, 5-6, 15-16, 20; John 19:25-27.
*THEME*: *A SWEET PAIN*
Greetings beloved people of God and welcome to "My Catholic Homily Digest". On this Fifteenth day of September, Monday of the Twenty Fourth week of Ordinary Time year, in which the Church celebrates the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, I wish to reflect with you on the theme: " *A Sweet Pain*". Beloved in Christ, a careful look at the theme of our today's reflection may sound like a paradox. Can joy be sour? Can Pain ever be sweet? Is there any possibility of having both feelings of extreme joy and extreme sorrow at one instance? Is it the will of God that we will be sorrowful? As absurd as this theme might be, we know that in life there are sceneries where happiness will not allow us to feel sorrow or pain. Take for instance, the pangs of birth. The woman is happy to under go the sorrowful pain of childbirth. She does not feel the pain because of the joy of having to bring forth a new life into the world.
This is exactly what the Blessed Virgin Mary felt at the foot of the cross, as she watched life dripping out of her son's body. She was sorrowful that he is dying shamefully on a tree, yet she was happy that he is bringing forth salvation to the entire human race. We know that begining with the flight to Egypt, the lowly birth in a manger, the agonising prophecy of Simeon, the untimely death of Joseph, the poverty of the family, the finding of Jesus in the temple and culminating in the passion of Christ, Mary has been plagued with sorrows, yet her love for God was never diminished. In fact, it is as though to say that, the more her sorrows were, the more her heart was filled with a sweet love. Thus, she loved her son like a mother, sorrowed for him like a Christian, and was happy for him like a close friend. This is the mystery of the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows which we celebrate today.
Child of God, in the Gospel reading of today, John 19:25-27, we are told that as Jesus hung on the cross, His mother Mary stood beneath his cross, filled with a sweet sorrow. She was his closest companion on his journey, she was his greatest supporter and fan, she was the first to believe in his course, and the last to leave his side. She it was, who suffered for him the most, and she it was who is now enjoying his glory the most. Her pain indeed was a fruitful pain and her sorrow a pleasant one. Beloved, often times, we complain and wail at the slightest provocation. We bear sorrowful moments in life in an unchristian way, we frequently ask God, "why me? But, we fail to recognise the eternal joy that our flinching sorrows in this life can bring. Listen to me, there is no amount of pain that can equal the Sorrows of Mary. Imagine that as a widow, she had lost her husband, now, her son is dying shamefully on a tree, and as a poor Jewess, she has nothing and no one to cater for her basic needs anymore. But in all these, she epitomises the words of 2Cor. 4:8, "though we are troubled and pressed hard on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. Beloved, no matter the level of sorrow besieging you, at this moment; you may have lost your job, you may have lost a very dear family member or friend; you may have a troubling health, you may be battling with delay in marital conception or getting a life partner. Remember to keep faith in God and do not despair. For thus says the Lord, 'Your sorrows shall be turned in to joy in no distant time' (John 16:16-22). No matter how sour the joy of your life is, God knows how to comfort his beloved. I pray that all your sorrows will turn to Joy in Jesus name.
Oh that today you would listen to his voice harden not your hearts (Ps.95:7-8).
*LET US PRAY* : Lord Jesus Christ, grant me the grace to bear my pains patiently as Mary your blessed mother did. Amen
*The Lord be with you*....... and with your Spirit.
*May Almighty God bless you the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit* ....Amen
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