May, month of Mary: meditation day twenty four

LOSS OF JESUS

24 DAY
Holy Mary.

Invocation. - Mary, Mother of mercy, pray for us!

Third pain:
LOSS OF JESUS
It happened that Jesus, at the age of twelve, having gone with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast and the days of the feast having ended, remained in Jerusalem and his relatives did not notice. Believing that He was in the group of pilgrims, they walked one day and looked for him among friends and acquaintances. And not having found him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the Temple, sitting among the Doctors, while listening to them and questioning them. Those who listened were amazed at his prudence and his responses. Mary and Joseph, seeing him, marveled; and the Mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us?" Here is your father and I, grieved, we looked for you! - And Jesus answered: Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know that I have to be in those things that concern my Father? And they did not understand the meaning of these words. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth; and was subject to them. And his Mother kept all these words in her heart (S. Luke, II, 42).
The pain that Our Lady felt in the bewilderment of Jesus was among the most immature in her life. The more precious the treasure you lose, the more pain you have. And what more precious treasure for a mother than her own child? Pain is related to love; therefore Mary, who lived only of the love of Jesus, had to feel in an extraordinary way the sting of the sword in her heart.
In all pains, Our Lady remained silent; never a word of complaint. But in this pain he exclaimed: Son, why have you done this to us? - Certainly he did not intend to reproach Jesus, but to make a loving complaint, not knowing the purpose of what had happened.
What the Virgin suffered during those three long days of research, we cannot fully understand. In the other pains he had the presence of Jesus; in the loss this presence was missing. 0rigène says that perhaps Mary's pain was intensified by this thought: That Jesus got lost because of me? - There is no greater pain for a loving soul than the fear of having disgusted your loved one.
The Lord gave us Our Lady as a model of perfection and he wanted her to suffer, and a great deal, to make us understand that suffering is necessary and bearer of spiritual goods, patience is indispensable for following and Jesus carrying the Cross.
Mary's anguish gives us teachings for spiritual life. Jesus has a multitude of souls who truly love him, serving him faithfully and having no other aim than to please him. From time to time Jesus hides from them, that is, does not make his presence felt, and leaves them in spiritual dryness. Often these souls are disturbed, not feeling the primitive fervor; they believe that prayers recited without taste are not pleasing to God; they think that doing good without momentum, or rather with repugnance, is bad; at the mercy of temptations, but always with the strength to resist, they fear they will no longer please Jesus.
They are wrong! Jesus allows dryness even to the most chosen souls, so that they may detach themselves from sensitive tastes and that they may suffer much. Indeed, dryness is a harsh test for loving souls, often an agonizing agony, a very pale image of that experienced by Our Lady in losing Jesus.
To those who are troubled in this way, we recommend: patience, waiting for the hour of light; constancy, not neglecting any prayer or good work, overcoming boredom or overcoming; often say: Jesus, I offer you my anguish, in union with what you felt in Gethsemane and that Our Lady felt in your bewilderment! -

EXAMPLE

Father Engelgrave narrates that a poor soul was anguished by afflictions of spirit; no matter how well he did, he believed he did not like God, rather disgusted him. ,
She was devoted to Our Lady of Sorrows; he often thought of her in his pains and contemplating her in his pains he received comfort.
Sickly ill, the demon took advantage to torment her more with the usual fears. The compassionate Mother came to the aid of her devotee and appeared to her to assure her that her spiritual state was not displeasing to God. So she said to her: Why do you fear the judgments of God and make you sad? You have consoled me many times, pitying my pains! Know that it is precisely Jesus who sends me to you to give you relief. Consulate and come with me to Heaven! -
Full of confidence, that devoted soul of Our Lady of Sorrows expired.

Foil. - Do not think badly of others, do not murmur and pity those who make mistakes.

Ejaculation. - O Mary, for the tears shed on Calvary, console the troubled souls!