J.M.J. Today's Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross only reaffirms our love and appreciation for Christ and for His Holy Mother.
"It is true that Mary was not
present (when Jesus suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, was scourged, etc.),
but she was keenly and fully aware of those selfsame events. When Mary
functioned as handmaid and mother, and when she offered herself completely to
God together with her Son in the temple, she was already a participant with Him in the painful atonement on behalf of the human race. We may not
doubt, therefore, that she suffered along with His most
bitter sufferings and with His torments in the very depths of her soul.
Finally, with Mary present and before her very eyes, the divine sacrifice for
which she had borne and nurtured the Victim was to be finished . . . . We see 'His mother Mary, weeping, standing by the cross of Jesus.' She
experienced this immense love for us so that she might receive us as her
children. Insofar as her Son was concerned, she offered Him to the justice of
God. In her heart she died with Him, her heart
transfixed with a sword of suffering."
--Pope Leo XIII, Iucunda Semper Expectatione (September 8, 1894), 3.
No comments:
Post a Comment