Mary’s sorrow when Jesus was lost, Mary: Day 324

Mary’s sorrow when Jesus was lost

St. Alphonsus points out that when Mary couldn’t find Jesus for three days, she was deprived not only of her Child, but of her Lord.

The Apostle St. James says that our perfection consists in the virtue of patience. “Patience has a perfect work, so that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing” (see Jas 1:4). Since our Lord had given us the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model of perfection, it was necessary that she should be burdened with sorrows, so that in her we might admire heroic patience and endeavor to imitate it.

One of the greatest sorrows Mary had to endure in her life was the loss of her Son in the temple. Those who are born blind and have never seen the light of day have little sense of what they are missing. But those who have enjoyed the light, then lost it by becoming blind, suffer considerably.

It’s the same with those unhappy souls who, blinded by the mire of this world, have only a little knowledge of God. They suffer only a little at not finding him. On the other hand, consider those who, illumined by heavenly light, have become worthy to find by love the sweet presence of the supreme Good. O God, how bitterly do they grieve when they find themselves deprived of it!

In this light, just consider how much Mary must have suffered from this sword of sorrow that pierced her heart: Having lost her Jesus in Jerusalem for three days, she was deprived of his most sweet presence, accustomed as she was to enjoy it constantly. —St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .

Do I sometimes seem to lose sight of God, or feel as if he is no longer with me? In those times, do I ask Mary to help me recover what I’ve lost, just as she recovered her Son?

CLOSING PRAYER

Blessed Mother, help me to go looking for God’s presence in every moment, in every place, and in every encounter, and help me find him there, even where I least expect him.

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