The Sorrows of Life | May 5

The sorrow of watching Jesus suffer in Calvary from a maternal point of view is enough to kill anyone. As the son suffers, the mother watches it helplessly. But she doesn’t protest. The protest would have weakened her. She stood strong, accepting the Will of the Father, the easiest burden to carry. How does it become an easy burden to carry? Christ says that His is an easy burden. “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mat 11: 28- 30)

How is it easy to see one’s child suffer? The father of the faithful, Abraham, was asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac. It was only such matters as the time and location to make the sacrifice that Abraham was worried about. Of course, the pain of losing his only son was searing into his heart, like a piece of hot coal. His life couldn’t go in any other direction even when he suffered greatly. He took Isaac and went to the place God specified in his message, Mt. Moriah. Issac carried the wood for fire, in which he will be sacrificed. Abraham carried a father’s heavy heart, who was about to lose his only son. How do these become easy burdens to carry? These are the burdens given by God, the Yoke of Christ.

We should turn our gaze to Our Lady of Sorrows and St Joseph while traversing such unimaginably excruciating times. Blessed Mother showed me, St Joseph, recently while I was battling a particular problem in life. The repetitive anger that I was experiencing as part of this problem was something I detested. I was feeling irritated. The frustration goes back into my mind and gives bouts of anger. It was when I was thinking seriously about how to surrender myself completely and properly to Christ that this thought came to my mind. St Joseph had gone through his life without complaining. It is not just the quality of not expressing any complaints, but the purity of heart that stands out about St Joseph.

From his purity of heart gushes forth all the beauty that we see in St Joseph. Aligning myself with St Joseph was the only way I realised to take my mind off from the recurring frustration, and anger that comes forth from this irritation. The cause of irritation is the thought that I am rightfully entitled to whatever good I wish for myself in life. Unable to give the Will of God the priority It deserves, I was certainly drowning in a hopeless cycle of earthly concerns. The moment the image of St Joseph appeared in my mind, I was dwarfed by the virtue of St Joseph. I was full of pride, self-preoccupation, and wish-fulfilment. Did St Joseph think that he was rightfully entitled to have a peaceful life? Did he think that this girl he was betrothed, is rightfully his and he could do as he pleased, and if he couldn’t, he could spend the rest of his life in hopelessness and sorrow? This was the way I felt. I thought that it was right on my part to spend the rest of my life in frustration and dejection. Then the picture of St Joseph just popped open in my mind, as if someone had turned it towards me. I could see it with my own eyes, the picture of St Joseph, even though it was a mental picture.

The incident took place on Wednesday, (08-05-2024). It was evening and I was half-praying and half-reeling in dejection thinking about the current status of my life. I felt I missed out on the advantage of my age. On the one hand, I was frustrated that I could not find more time for the Lord, for evangelization activities like writing this article. On the other hand, I was struggling to break free from my habit of watching short videos and reels on Instagram. I was asking for the intercession of the Blessed Mother. I was undergoing the ninety days of Marian Covenant. The Blessed Mother recently showed me that in every aspect of life, we must include Jesus. We must invite Him and He will come. Even if it is a sinful thought, we should not keep Jesus outside. His presence in every nook and corner of our lives will purify those moments and events, thereby filling us with His Grace. I felt so little in front of St Joseph. My demands and wishes from life seemed so unimportant and superficial, that frustration and irritation turned into awe for the great St Joseph.

Through Jesus, God, the Father sent a vessel that was meant to empty itself for mankind. Jesus emptied His spirit for the atonement of our sins. St Joseph also displays this self-effacing humility when his life takes him to different different directions rather than the ones that he had wished for himself. “Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:19-21)

Just like Joseph, may we also find the courage to sacrifice our wishes to crown the Will of God as the supreme objective of our life. This will help us counteract the sorrows of life. Let’s seek the intercession of our Blessed Mother. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, I was able to understand that I must forgo the sadness of leading a mediocre life unable to reach the heights that rightfully belonged to me. It was St Joseph who came to my help, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, fighting and conquering the demons in my mind.