Today is the presentation of Our Lord. There are many different and beautiful reflections on this feast, but I would like to draw your attention to the words that Simeon pronounced to Our Mother Mary:
"Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."
The sword of the Gospel, the sword of Truth, Jesus Christ - spiritually pierced through the heart of the Mother as she stood beneath the Cross on Calvary. Christ was already dead, and the Mother watched as the sword sliced through the flesh of Her Son. He bore her wound... She cried.
She was warned. She said Yes. Why the Sword?
"So that our thoughts might be revealed." Thoughts are distinctively human. The heart is our innermost self. The Sword of Truth reveals our humanity in our most secret and vulnerable depths. Our Lady at the Foot of the Cross becomes the Icon of human frailty revealed. Note the verb revealed. Our human frailty is revealed in suffering, not destroyed. This is not a negative exposure, but rather a positive revelation. Our frailty is finally fully revealed to God, that is opened to His healing grace through the Passion of Our Lord. It is revealed to us, not to be shunned, but to accepted as Christ accepted the Cross - for our salvation and the Glory of God.
Only in experiencing this vulnerability, a total openness of the heart to the Will of God, will we be able to experience His total and unconditional love. Love hurts, and God in His goodness knew it. So, He came to us. He allowed the heart of His own Mother to be pierced as He hung on the Cross, so that we would not hurt alone and we would not hurt in vain. He came to make our pain purifying, reveal our frailty, and raise our wounds to be nothing short of a likeness of His own Sacred Heart.
Our Lady of Sorrows, Pray for us!
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