A word for the suffering

 Not only are there those who lead evil lives and suffer, but there are also those who lead good lives and suffer. At the foot of the cross there are good lives, the best of livesparticularly that of the Blessed Mother. We sometimes ask, “Well, why should I suffer? What evil have I ever done?” What evil did Mary ever do? What evil did our LOrd do? Remember that we are called to share in the redemption of our Lord. As St. Paul says, “I fill up in my flesh the sufferings that are wanting to the passion of Christ.” Didn’t Christ suffer enough? Yes. But for whose sake?  For the sake of his body, which is the Church. As the centuries go on, we continue the redemption of our Lord. Our Mary was summoned at the very moment of his birth to share in his sufferings. When she brought the divine child to Simeon, Simeon said, “A sword shall pierce your heart too.” You brought your child into the world without pain, but everyone else in this world who becomes a brother of Christ and a child of Mary causes agony to that Mother. And our Blessed Mother shared secondarily in the redemption of our Blessed Lord by bearing us, her children, spiritually. That is why we can call her Mother.