The most difficult of all funerals is when a mother or father buries their child. Who can comprehend the sorrow a parent is experiencing when they see their flesh lying in a coffin? Yet, when I have sat with them, they always say, “Why couldn’t it have been me”?
Today we celebrate our Mother of Sorrows. Being immaculate from all sin did not spare her standing under the cross of her divine Son as she drank from the same chalice of His suffering.
The Son she once laid in a manger; the Son she carried in her arms; and who suckled at her breast is raised on a cross hung by nails. No part of His body, her body too, was spared from the wounds of our sins. Her spirit was crucified as much as His adorable body. Her heart was pierced with the lance that pierced His.
The two feasts: The Exaltation of the Cross and Our Mother of Sorrows, teach us that pain and suffering are part of our human experience. If there were another way to overcome the atrocities of our sinful nature, Jesus and Mary would have been spared.
They teach us not to run from our sufferings or medicate them with distractions as if they don’t exist. “Let this chalice pass me by, but let not my will but yours be done.” Pray to unite all your sufferings with the Passion of our Lord Jesus. The coldest heart is converted, and the most atrocious of sins is forgiven through suffering born out of love for the good of another.
Ask your Mother to stand by your side in moments of intense darkness and despair as she did with Jesus. Her intercession and presence are cause for great courage and comfort. Pray to her often throughout the day.
December 4, 2025, Matthew 7:21, 24-27 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120425.cfm Never Satisfied. That is Tom Brady, who was the quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He acknowledged the
December 3, 2025, Matthew 15:29-37 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120325.cfm NEVER HUNGER. HOW IS THAT? A few years ago, a local restaurant donated turkeys for our parishioners to feed people
December 2, 2025, Luke 10:21-24 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120225.cfm INTIMACY LEADS TO TRUST! Throughout His life, Jesus had one human person with whom He shared a very similar
November 30, 2025, Matthew 24:37-44 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/113025.cfm Let your light shine! Have you ever walked away from your car and wondered if you locked it? Did you
Memorial of our Lady of Sorrows September 15
Fr. Rick’s Two Minute Homily Memorial of our Lady of Sorrows September 15 09-15-2022
Memorial of our Lady of Sorrows September 15
John 19:33-35 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091522.cfm
NO OTHER WAY.
The most difficult of all funerals is when a mother or father buries their child. Who can comprehend the sorrow a parent is experiencing when they see their flesh lying in a coffin? Yet, when I have sat with them, they always say, “Why couldn’t it have been me”?
Today we celebrate our Mother of Sorrows. Being immaculate from all sin did not spare her standing under the cross of her divine Son as she drank from the same chalice of His suffering.
The Son she once laid in a manger; the Son she carried in her arms; and who suckled at her breast is raised on a cross hung by nails. No part of His body, her body too, was spared from the wounds of our sins. Her spirit was crucified as much as His adorable body. Her heart was pierced with the lance that pierced His.
The two feasts: The Exaltation of the Cross and Our Mother of Sorrows, teach us that pain and suffering are part of our human experience. If there were another way to overcome the atrocities of our sinful nature, Jesus and Mary would have been spared.
They teach us not to run from our sufferings or medicate them with distractions as if they don’t exist. “Let this chalice pass me by, but let not my will but yours be done.” Pray to unite all your sufferings with the Passion of our Lord Jesus. The coldest heart is converted, and the most atrocious of sins is forgiven through suffering born out of love for the good of another.
Ask your Mother to stand by your side in moments of intense darkness and despair as she did with Jesus. Her intercession and presence are cause for great courage and comfort. Pray to her often throughout the day.
Mother of Sorrows, Pray for us.
IGNITE THE FIRE IN YOUR HEART!
Father Rick Pilger, I.C.
pastor
or .
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