September 15, 2026 // Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 19:25-27 

Reflect on the Word // 

The torrential rain came down hard that morning. On the drive to the funeral, I could almost hear my uncle wondering how much rain was collecting in the gauge. For forty-six years, weather shaped his days as a farmer. Where we saw this gray, heavy sky, he would have seen thirsty fields finally getting what they needed.

A few hours later, after the funeral, we stood beside his grave. Two years earlier, his son had died in a tragic accident. Now father and son were being laid to rest side by side. The immediate family sat beneath a temporary tent in the cemetery. The rest of us gathered around them, standing on the wet grass. The rain had stopped, but the ground was still soaked. No one had the right words for another unexpected death. No one could change what had happened. So we stood. Family, friends, neighbors, quietly surrounding those we loved when there was nothing left to do but be there.

This memory arose again as I prayed with today’sGospel: “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother . . . ” (John 19:25).

Standing.

Mary is not described as explaining, fixing, or fleeing. She is simply there. Awake to suffering. Close enough to see everything, and still she does not turn away. The Stabat Mater says, “Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, all His bitter anguish bearing.” She does not avoid the pain. She remains with Him in it.

Women know this kind of standing. We stand in hospital rooms, funeral homes, and courtrooms; in hard conversations, long waits, and grief that has no words. We stand beside the people we love when nothing we can do will make it better. 

Mary teaches us this: standing is an act of love that remains. It is love that stays. It is love that does not leave when it hurts. And when life brings us to our own crosses, Our Lady of Sorrows is there, standing with us. 

Relate to the Lord // Read and pray the Stabat Mater today. Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!