“One cannot speak of the tragedy of Calvary because there can be no tragedy in relation to Jesus or Mary. The fulfillment of God’s will can never be tragic.”

                                                               –Federico Suarez

For Reflection:              What great insight! How does this impact your perspective of your own cross? Remember, God’s will is expressed through His perfect will as well as His permissive will. Since nothing happens to us without God’s knowledge, our sorrows are permitted for a greater good to be manifested. What greater good have you seen come from past sorrows? What greater good might God be working through your current dolor of the heart?

“No one can suggest that God did not love the Blessed Virgin. Nevertheless, He did not exempt her from Calvary, or from making her participate in the Cross to a fuller extent than anyone else in the world except her Son. It would be foolish – to think that if God really loves us, as He does, He will exempt us from the Cross, the sign of the Christian.”

                                                                              –Federico Suarez         

For Reflection:              Christian thinking has always posited the Cross as the consummate sign of victory. We even celebrate a feast day in celebration of it – September 14, The Triumph of the Cross. How was Calvary and the Cross, Jesus greatest triumph? Mary’s? How does the Cross, then, speak of God’s love for us  — first, in reception of the fruits it has gained for us; and second, in the entrustment of the cross we carry? To what extent does this insight lighten the burden?

“The well-spring of Mary’s joy is the possession of Jesus.”

                     –Sister Mare Eugenie of Jesus   

For Reflection:              Both the Pieta and the poem from yesterday portray a serene and composed image of the Blessed Mother. In both, Mary is “in possession” of Jesus, physically, spiritually, and eternally. How can this moment be for Mary, then, a well-spring of joy? Ponder this and record your reflections. How does this inspire you?