Gospel: Lk 2:33-35 (or Jn 19:25-27)
His father and mother wondered at what was said about the child. Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Know this: your son is a sign; a sign established for the falling and rising of many in Israel, a sign of contradiction; and a sword will pierce your own soul, so that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”REFLECTION:
In the realm of music, a person who has perfect pitch is a person who can recognize and name any note or group of notes with absolute certainty, as if the person had a built –in tuning fork in his or her head. It is a great gift to have perfect pitch, but it is also a great source of frustration and suffering, for then the person having it detects the slightest sound out of tune or false note.
Spiritually speaking, Mary was endowed with perfect pitch, being completely attuned to God. And this is difficult, nay, impossible for us to imagine, let alone understand. But the downside of this was that she suffered acutely when she came in contact with sin, hate, pettiness, pride, etc. And so, during the public life of Jesus, as she witnessed the mounting opposition of his enemies and could already anticipate how it would all end, in anticipation she suffered the Cross more than we will ever be able to imagine. As Simeon predicted when the child Jesus was presented in the Temple, “and you yourself a sword will pierce” (Lk 2:35). Today we are remembering that Mary, too, was crucified in her own way.
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