tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post9111427524516643607..comments2023-08-09T07:48:53.962-04:00Comments on Bear Witness to the Light: Blessed Are You, O Virgin Mary; Without Dying You Won The Martyr's Crown Beneath The Cross Of The Lord.Fr. John L. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16167510362871783781noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post-53986489095984853792010-09-15T14:28:58.215-04:002010-09-15T14:28:58.215-04:00The four evangelists tell us that Jesus came up fr...The four evangelists tell us that Jesus came up from Galilee to Jerusalem with his disciples to celebrate the Passover. <br /><br />Later, the three synoptic gospel tell us that the women looked from afar: Mark mentions only Mary, mother of Jesus; Matthew, Mary and Magdalene; Luke, that "those of his acquaintance" stood afar off with the women. <br /><br />The Gospel According to St John says that the mother of Jesus, her sister (also called Mary) and Mary Magdalene stood by the cross with the disciple whom he loved, that is, John himself. <br /><br /><br />Since Jesus came from Galilee to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover with his disciples, Mary, the mother of Jesus must certainly have come with them. After the burial of Jesus, as the gospels remind us, the disciples remained in the Upper Room for fear of the Jews, and Mary remained with them. It was likely only after Pentecost that John took her into his home.Fr. John L. Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16167510362871783781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post-41367028889842070972010-09-15T10:32:55.182-04:002010-09-15T10:32:55.182-04:00I wonder if Mary had just come up from Nazareth to...I wonder if Mary had just come up from Nazareth to celebrate Passover when she met her Son on the road. How awful if that was the case. Perhaps this was why John took her in immediately.Sarah in the tenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13680566205364331756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post-30273302426797476382010-09-15T07:49:56.349-04:002010-09-15T07:49:56.349-04:00Yes, Sarah, the Church's teaching is that by o...Yes, Sarah, the Church's teaching is that by offering up our own suffering "in atonement for our sins, and those of the whole world", we participate in the salvific suffering of Our Lord in His Passion and Death. Mother Mary, standing at the foot of the cross, was the first to share in His agony, and by patient endurance, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, we too play our small part in the mystical work of redemption.Fr. John L. Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16167510362871783781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post-24471213783293062752010-09-15T04:52:44.223-04:002010-09-15T04:52:44.223-04:00Mary watched her only child being slowly murdered....Mary watched her only child being slowly murdered. It was not the first nor the last time that this supreme cruelty was inflicted. It was also the fate of Zedekiah, the last king of David's line - before the reign of Christ. It's strange how the same cruelty that ended the old kingdom of David ushers in the new. Somehow, I think it matters that Mary accepts this sorrow, and that she does so with us, on our behalf, and in union with her son. Is this the necessary addition that Paul says we bring to Christ's suffering? Is this Church teaching?Sarah in the tenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13680566205364331756noreply@blogger.com