A Parent’s Loss

 

Gospel: John 19: 25-27

 

We do not have a word that names a parent who lost a child.  Children who lose their parents are orphans; spouses who lose their beloved are widows and widowers.  But there is no word to name a parent who loses and child, and yet it is all too common an occurrence.  The grief of a parent over the loss of a child is incalculable.  People who gave life to this person are powerless to prevent the loss of that life; the people who have been with you and who have known you all your life now are at the final moment of the life of their child. 

 

It is for this reason that Mary can truly be mother of us all.  She has been at every stage of her son’s life and can empathize with parents in every situation.  She can rejoice at the birth of a child, understand the fear and vulnerability of a refugee caring for their child, feel the toil of those eking out a living in humble poverty under an oppressive regime, and finally empathize with the pain of a parent who sees their child die and face unjust treatment from religious and political leaders. 

 

Today’s feast is for all those in our world facing such sorrow as a parent: the sorrow of the refugee fleeing a lawless country and coming to a heartless one; the struggle of the poor mother raising her children in poverty in a land indifferent to her plight; the mom who sees her child killed in yet another act of senseless gun violence.  Mary is the model for them, a refuge and comfort of their sorrows and struggles.