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Memorial: Our Lady of Sorrows

From: 1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14 (USA usage. The USCCB uses the Proper of
Seasons Reading for this Memorial; the Proper of Saints Reading is used
elsewhere. The Proper of Saints Gospel[s] is [are] used universally.)

Greeting

[1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ
Jesus our hope,

[2] To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the
Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul Recalls His Own Conversion

[12] I thank him who has given me strength for this, Christ Jesus our Lord, be-
cause he judged me faithful by appointing me to his service, [13] though I former-
ly blasphemed and persecuted and insulted him; but I received mercy because I
had acted ignorantly in unbelief, [14] and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me
with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

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Commentary:

12-13. This clearly autobiographical passage, which shows the Apostle’s humi-
lity (cf., e.g., 1 Cor 15:9-10), is evidence of the letter’s Pauline authorship: it is
difficult to believe that a later disciple would have dared to call St Paul a “blas-
phemer”, “persecutor” or “insulter” or made him describe himself as “the fore-
most of sinners”.

St Paul’s conversion is an example of a miracle of grace; only by the mercy of
God could he have been changed and become the Apostle of the Gentiles and
such a faithful minister of the Gospel. This change which grace worked in Paul
can also help all who approach the Church to have great confidence in God’s
mercy and forgiveness; like a good father, God is always ready to receive the
repentant sinner.

The sacred text shows quite clearly that the initiative lies with God when it
comes to calling people to Church office. The call to the priesthood is a grace
from God; it is God who makes the choice and then he gives the person he has
chosen the strength to fulfill his office worthily. In this connection Bishop Alvaro
del Portillo has written: “Christian priesthood is not, then, in the line of ethical
relationships among men nor on the level of a merely human attempt to ap-
proach God: it is a gift from God and it is irreversibly located on the vertical line
of the search for man by his Creator and Sanctifier and on the sacramental line
of the gratuitous opening up to man of God’s intimate life. In other words, Chris-
tian priesthood is essentially (this is the only possible way it can be understood)
an eminently sacred mission, both in its origin (Christ) and in its content (the di-
vine mystery) and by the very manner in which it is conferred—a sacrament”
(”On Priesthood”, pp. 59f).

14. “In Christ Jesus”: this expression is being used with a special technical
meaning: it refers to the position of the new man who, after the “washing of re-
generation and renewal in the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5) which takes place at Bap-
tism, is now united to Christ, made a Christian. At Baptism the mercy of God
not only justifies the sinner but causes him to share profoundly in God’s own life
by means of grace, faith and love. These three gifts are a sign that the Christian
has truly been built into the body of Christ (cf. 2 Tim 1:13).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Luke 2:33-35

Simeon’s Prophecy

[33] And His father and His mother marvelled at what was said about Him; [34]
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His mother, “Behold this child is
set for the fall the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against
[35] (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of
many hearts may be revealed.”

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Commentary:

33. The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph marvelled not because they did not know
who Christ was; they were in awe at the way God was revealing Him. Once again
they teach us to contemplate the mysteries involved in the birth of Christ.

34-35. After Simeon blesses them, the Holy Spirit moves him to further prophecy
about the Child’s future and His Mother’s. His words become clearer in the light
of our Lord’s life and death.

Jesus came to bring salvation to all men, yet He will be a sign of contradiction
because some people will obstinately reject Him—and for this reason He will be
their ruin. But for those who accept Him with faith Jesus will be their salvation,
freeing them from sin in this life and raising them up to eternal life.

The words Simeon addresses to Mary announce that she will be intimately
linked with her Son’s redemptive work. The sword indicates that Mary will have
a share in her Son’s sufferings; hers will be an unspeakable pain which pierces
her soul. Our Lord suffered on the cross for our sins, and it is those sins which
forge the sword of Mary’s pain. Therefore, we have a duty to atone not only to
God but also to His Mother, who is our Mother too.

The last words of the prophecy, “that out of many hearts thoughts may be re-
vealed”, link up with verse 34: uprightness or perversity will be demonstrated by
whether one accepts or rejects Christ.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.