THE VIRGIN Mary taught people how to “suffer with love,” UST Central Seminary pastoral director Fr. Marcelino Saria, O.P. said in a Mass celebrating the feast of her nativity at the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church on Friday, Sept. 8.
Saria said Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, showed the world what authentic love really is.
“[T]he suffering of our Blessed Mother could help us know how to suffer with love because no one really is exempted from suffering, especially if we love authentically,” he said in his homily.
The seminary pastoral director recalled Mary’s sacrifices for her son, who endured sacrifices of his own to save humanity from its sinfulness.
“She endured so much suffering of being the mother of Jesus. She may not be crucified on the cross, but she was at the foot of the cross, experiencing being pierced from the heart because of seeing her son nailed on the cross,” Saria said.
Saria urged Catholics to use their suffering for the common good.
“Magdurusa ka na rin lang, magdusa ka nang nagmamahal, hindi ‘yong gumagawa ka ng masama, hindi ‘yong nananakit ng kapwa,” he said.
(If you’re going to suffer, suffer with love, not in doing wrong or hurting others.)
“Mas maganda magdusa ka na doon sa tama, magdusa ka nang gumagawa ng tama, nagmamahal ng tunay, doing our best to get closer to God and help others get closer to him in the way our Blessed Mother is close to our Lord Jesus Christ,” he added.
(It’s better to suffer in doing what is right. It’s better to suffer when you are loving authentically, doing your best to get closer to God and help others get closer to Him in the way our Blessed Mother is close to our Lord Jesus Christ.)
Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary every Sept. 8. Mary is only one of three figures in the Church whose births are commemorated in the liturgy, the others being Jesus and St. John the Baptist, due to their pivotal roles in salvation history and their lives of holiness. A.B. Maestrado
