15 September 2026 - her station keeping

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.

Mary was so united to her Son that she felt the pain that he felt, just as Simeon prophesied, saying, "you yourself a sword will pierce". She was preeminently part of the body of Christ of which, as Paul tells us, all the baptized are members. This means not only sharing the charismatic gifts that flow from Christ but also and especially sharing his heart, being motivated by what motivates him, moved to compassion as he was, desiring the Father's will above all as he did. Being united to the heart of Christ means resisting the diabolical temptation to avoid the cross to which Peter momentarily succumbed. It means being willing to stand up and be counted with Jesus rather than denying and betraying him before men. It means a willingness to be present with him in dark and difficult times and not only in moments of glory. 

 If we try to be members of his body without receiving everything that flows to us from his heart we are obviously going to have, at best, impaired function. Mary is a stellar example of an unfiltered reception of the heart of Jesus into her own heart. It began with her fiat to the angel Gabriel, continued as she took up her station by his cross, and culminated in her assumption and coronation in heaven. None of this did she earn through her own merit. It was a gift, and one not intended for her alone.

Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

We are meant to be the disciples who are meant to take Mary into our home. United to Jesus we not only cry "Abba! Father!" but we also call Mary our mother. Just as she was perfectly united to her Son so too is Mary united to his Body. What Mary became by grace she helps her other children, those who keep the commandments and the testimony of Jesus (see Revelation 12:17), to become. She treasured everything she received about the Lord in her heart. And now she helps us to learn what she learned through contemplating the face of her Son. One particular way she does this is in the mysteries of the rosary that she has given us. But, as should be clear by now, these are not meant to be pious abstractions. They are meant to increase our own union with Jesus so that we can love him as completely as Mary herself did, and then, in turn, love our neighbors for his sake, as Mary also clearly did. We will not do this all in the same way or with the same gifts. But we are all meant to be united to Jesus and used by him as Mary allowed herself to be. This may mean that we too will be signs to the world that are "contradicted". But at such times we can know that we are not alone at our cross. Mary is there with us, together with her Son, bringing the image of Jesus to perfection in us through her motherly care.

Norbertines of St. Michael's Abbey - Stabat Mater Dolorosa