Big crowds of Maltese Catholics today will be convening to express their deep love and devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, under her title of Our Lady of Sorrows.
It’s a traditional annual moment very dear to Maltese believers, especially those who in the suffering Mother also see the millions of mothers, all over today’s troubled world, whose souls are deeply wounded because of what is unjustly happening to their innocent sons and daughters.
All of these mothers, in some way or another, are passing through the same kind of human anguish Mother Mary experienced in one or more of what are known as her seven sorrows: the prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the loss of Jesus for three days in the Temple, meeting Jesus on his way to Calvary, Jesus’s crucifixion and death, Jesus taken down from the cross, and Jesus laid in the tomb.
When we think about the body of Jesus being taken down from the cross and laid in his mother’s arms, in our mind’s eye we can glimpse again the moments when Mary held baby Jesus in her arms when Simeon told her that a sword shall pierce her soul. Or when the Holy Family had to flee to Egypt to save the world’s most famous refugee from the wrath of a brutal persecutor.
How many mothers have to endure, like Mary, the severe pain of swords piercing their souls as they see their off-springs struggling in hostile environments full of uncertainties, prejudices, inequalities and fear often fomented by power-hungry, corrupt, mean and self-serving oppressors?
How many mothers continue to weep for their sons and daughters who perish in the desert, in the sea or in containers while fleeing persecution, severe violations of human rights, crooked regimes, famine or natural disasters? Or are cruelly thrown into evil prisons just because they take part in peaceful demonstrations in support of their legitimate human and civil rights or because they dare to democratically stand up to the lies and wickedness of the regime?
How many mothers continue to see their loved ones fall under the bullets or bombs of senseless wars propelled by cold-blooded, heartless, deceitful and ruthless warlords and dictators who appear to consider young people as if they were mere disposable thin soldiers?
The list is long, very long indeed.
The mothers of innocent victims of so many sorts of transgressions, for instance victims of sexual violence, domestic abuse, drug barons, usury, racism, bullying and bizarre work or social practices, quickly spring to mind.
It’s a list which also includes the mothers of those whose lives are lost or otherwise end up seriously injured in construction site shocking mishaps where the priority is not the health and safety of the human being, the worker, but a corrupt road map targeting big and easy money.
How many mothers continue to see their loved ones fall under the bullets or bombs of senseless wars?- Charles Buttigieg
This is over and above victims of natural disasters who die under collapsed probably security-wise faulty buildings or lose their lives hungry and cold in freezing temperatures because indispensable aid arrives too late.
It includes the victims of reckless driving habits, where not so many people appear to be able to actually appreciate how priceless their own life and that of others is, even if they might quickly agree that it’s much better to be a few minutes late in this world than many years early in the next!
It further includes the mothers of migrant young people who are forced to seek shelter, employment or a new life far away from home but end up caught in the fierce claws of vicious predatory human traffickers and/or insatiable so-called employers who exploit them without any remorse whatsoever.
Along all these mothers there is also mother nature or mother earth, which has a big number of pitiless swords piercing her beautiful soul from every direction through so many man-caused ravages of the climate and the natural habitat, often through initiatives camouflaged by false or warped claims of progress and development.
The suffering Mary, with her son in her arms, still dwells among today’s humans.
In every son or daughter who is afflicted, beaten, mistreated, emarginated, rejected one can discover Mary, who continues to travel the paths of humanity, bearing her sorrow. She lovingly and willingly remains by the side of those who toil, who suffer, who grieve and who die. With her loving presence, she offers them guidance, courage and comfort.
In a world where evil often appears to triumph, in which hope sometimes seems extinguished, honest, upright and well-wishing human beings need to be close to one another as Mary has made herself close to humanity.
They need to be in union with all genuine witnesses and artisans of solidarity, reconciliation, justice, freedom and peace and with all those who, in so many places torn apart by hatred, criminality or conflict, give their lives for their brothers and sisters.
Mary’s true followers, together with whoever really wishes to see less mothers suffering because of what falls to their innocent offspring, cannot look away.
Charles Buttigieg is a former refugee commissioner.