Your Sorrow is My Sorrow

Meeting: 13 September 2007
Presenter: Sr Gail Reneker, sm
Topic: Sr Janice Ruff, smsm

POUR OUT COMPASSION AND MERCY

Pour out compassion and mercy from the depths of your heart and give to the poor and broken the service of your love.

In so far as you do these holy deeds with all the love of your soul, then you will resemble Me, your God and I will make you whole.

If you seek out and find the stranger and comfort the lonely of heart and offer them your friendship then My justice you impart.

Reading: Luke 10L 33-34
The mercy of God is evoked here by the love of the Samaritan and the care given to his neighbour who fell among thieves. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him an inn and took care of him.

Response: From the Manual of the Third Order, 1859
Your privileges – that is, to be able to count on the special protection of the powerful Virgin Mary. In permitting that her name become our name, she also wishes to see you bearing it worthily. She will help you. In inviting you to become members of this new family that she has taken to herself, she wishes to become your mother in a special way; you also have the right to call yourselves her children. Henceforth, you know what you can expect from the love and mercy of Mary both for yourselves and for all those whom you commend to her.

REFLECTION: The sorrowful events and experiences of Mary’s life are often mirrored in our own life.

Anyone who has never received news that brought with it prediction of turmoil and pain has been with Mary when Simeon foretold the heartache she would have.

Anyone who has ever made the decision to leave a situation that was destructive and harmful, has been with Mary when she fled into Egypt to save her Son’s life.

Anyone who has ever searched with panic and dismay over the loss of a valued part of their life has been with Mary as she hunted for her missing child.

Anyone who has ever met suffering on a deeper level has been with Mary as she met her suffering Son on the way to Calvary…..

Anyone who has kept vigil at the bedside of a terminally ill loved one has been with Mary as she stood beneath the Cross….

Anyone who has ever embraced a part of their life that has died has been there with Mary when she received the dead body of her child in her arms…

Anyone who has stood in a cemetery with tears clutching at their heart and in their eyes has been there with Mary when she watched her Son being laid to rest in the tomb….

As we enter into these sorrows, we see how Mary questioned and grappled with the confusion. She was unclear. She needed others to be with her in her pain. She reflected on her experiences in order to find meaning them. We see her inner strength, how her faith sustained her, how her love for her son gave her strength to enter into and endure her suffering. We see how she never gave up even in the most desolate times.

As we walk with Mary in her sorrows, we discover we are not alone in what is most difficult for us. In Mary we have a mother, a sister, a friend, a mentor.

Take a few moments of quiet and think of a time when you shared with Mary in her sorrows. Hear Mary say to you:

Compassionate God
Your generous presence
Is always to the hurting ones.
Your listening ear is bent
Toward the cries of the wounded.
Your heart of love
Fills with tears for the suffering.
Turn my inward eye to see
That I am not alone.
I am part of all life.
Each one’s joy and sorrow 
Is my joy and sorrow;
And mine is theirs. 
May I draw strength
From this inner communion.
May it daily recommit me
To be a compassionate presence
For all who struggle with life’s pain
May I become a true Marist, 
An instrument of diving mercy
for a broken and suffering world.  Amen