Normally on the 25th of March, we celebrate the
Annunciation of the Lord. We hear of the Angel Gabriel sent from God to the
Virgin of Nazareth with the words, “Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you.”
And we hear the magnificent words of the Virgin Mary, “Let it be done unto me
according to your word.” With those sacred and powerful words, the earthly
ministry of the Eternal Son of God begins.
Today we hear no words of the Virgin Mary, but are struck by
the silence of the Virgin Mother. On this day, when we would expect to hear
with her that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most
High will overshadow you,” we hear with her, “Behold your Son,” and “Behold
your Mother.” And then, “It is finished.”
At the cross her station keeping, stood the mournful mother
weeping, close to Jesus to the last.
A little more than forty days ago, we approached the Altar to
receive the imposition of the Ashes of repentance. We traveled with the Lord
Jesus to the desert, to the mountain, and to the city of God, Jerusalem. Now we
approach the Altar to make our act of reverence to the wood of the Cross on
which hung the Savior of the World. And there we stand with Mary, his Mother
and ours. From the Cross, Christ gave her to us. At the Cross, she gives us to
Him.
At the Cross her station keeping, stands our mournful Mother
weeping, bringing us to Jesus to the last.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes
Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
