Stabat Mater--the mother stood. These words introduce two ancient hymns—the Stabat Mater Dolorosa, sung during Lenten stations of the cross as well as for today’s feast of Our Lady of Sorrows; and the Stabat Mater Speciosa (meaning the beautiful mother stood), sung to commemorate the nativity of Christ. The hymns hold in common the fact that Mary stayed. She stayed when it would have been profitable to run the other way, either from the cross or from the angel Gabriel’s life-altering news at the Annunciation. Mary stayed, and her sure-footed response, which gave assent to the incarnation of the Word and divine succor to the dying Word-made-flesh, has left an imprint into which others step similarly today. Josephine Sellu is among them. As deputy nurse matron at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak, nurse Sellu stayed. She stayed despite burying many of her junior nurses. She stayed despite pleas from her children to remain at home. God, she has indicated, called her to be a healer, and to heal obliges us to stay—among the sick, among the aggrieved, among the defeated. What enables people like Nurse Sellu to stay? Her story and the Gospel for today indicate that we stay when we sense that we have been chosen for a mission. Different injustices and suffering will inform that sense of mission, but to stay is to make a stark choice for God in the face of crowds clamoring for us to withdraw, abandon, or flee. We like to think we exercise freedom of choice, but what really sways us is the experience of being chosen. True, to be chosen by God cuts us to the quick, or pierces the heart. It sizes us up immediately; we know in its wake what we are made of and for. But if, in response, we choose to stay, then we become an imprint into which others can more readily step into sacred mystery. Share your thoughts about todays reflection here. Prayer - September 15, 2014 O God, you hold in your embrace both the sorrow and the beauty of life. Call us more deeply to embrace our mission, that in responding today to the sufferings of this world and the challenges it throws our way, we may stay at your side and there receive the gift of Christ’s Spirit, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever. Father Kevin Sandberg, C.S.C. Saint of the Day Our Lady of Sorrows, who stood with hope by Jesus on the cross and is patroness of Holy Cross religious, pray for us!
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 22:46:50 +0000
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