4. The meeting of Mary and Jesus.
As a mother I can only imagine Mary’s pain when she saw her suffering Son. We wish to take away the sorrow and suffering that our children inevitably suffer, and yet we know that they go through these trials only to be stronger in the end. Often the best we can do is listen and let them know we are there and that we understand. Jesus met His mother as He was being led to his execution. Mary did not protest in that moment, which would have been an understandable thing to do.
She did not yell or scream or lash out at the soldiers and try to prevent them from torturing her Son more. Instead she met His gaze with a sorrow that revealed a deep knowledge of the truth of that hour. This is the same knowledge that she brings to us. We can draw comfort from her because she has an intimate knowledge of Jesus. Not only in the moment of His great suffering, but in our own sufferings, big and small, she meets our gaze with the love and compassion of a mother who knows our grief and who offers to us the only true consolation: her Son.
