Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection September 15, 2025

15th September 2025 (Monday)

Psalter: Week 4

Readings of the Day

First Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-8

Beloved: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarrelling.

Psalm 28:2, 7, 8-9 (R. 6)

R/. Blest be the Lord, for he has heard the sound of my appeal.

Gospel Acclamation

V/. Alleluia

R/. Alleluia

V/. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

R/. Alleluia

Gospel: John 19:25-27

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Gospel: Luke 2:33-35

And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Daily Gospel Reflection

Monday – 24th Week in Ordinary Time

Main Point: Jesus carried the cross and died on it, offering us streams of new life. Mary, his mother and our mother, carried the same cross in her heart all through her life and accompanied him along the way of the cross to the end of death on the cross. The same mother accompanies us also on our way of sorrows.

1. Today, we commemorate Mary as the Mother of Sorrows. In the first place, it does not mean she is a sorrowful mother, given to sadness and devoid of joy in life. Rather, it means that she herself has gone through experiences of sorrow. She knows the bitterness and pain of human suffering.

2. By God’s grace, she was exempted from the stain of sin. But it did not exclude her from the situations of the struggle of preserving that grace of sinlessness. Just as Jesus in his humanity became completely one like us except sin, so also Mary was totally one with us except sin.

3. Seven sorrows or dolours are specified in her life: prophecy of Simeon, flight into Egypt, loss of Jesus in the temple, Mary walks the way of the cross along with Jesus, Mary stands at the foot of the cross, Mary witnesses the death of Jesus and receives his dead body, Mary lays Jesus’ body in the sepulchre.

4. The mention of only seven instances or situations does not mean that Mary’s sorrow was limited only to those moments. These are actually indicators of an entire life that bore the marks of suffering. Just as Jesus was born, already destined to suffer as the Saviour, so also Mary was destined to be the mother of sorrows by her vocation and mission as the unique collaborator in God’s plan of salvation.

5. Thus, the seven sorrows are not isolated experiences of sorrow. In each of them, we can detect and feel the intensity of pain. In all of them, there is suffering due to experiences of uncertainty, separation, suffering, and death, all concerning the most loved one, and that is Jesus.

6. Thus, what is notable in Mary’s suffering is that it is in reference to Jesus. She suffers because she loves him so deeply, intimately, and passionately. She suffers because her son suffers.

7. Another aspect of her sorrow was her love for sinful humanity and her concern for their salvation. Just as God in His infinite love and mercy is anguished over human sinfulness, Mary too shares the same pain for humanity. Their leaning to sin, their constant fall into sin, sorrows her tender maternal heart.

8. Thus, Mary’s sorrow would denote these two essential components: the “personal”, that is, her personal love for Jesus, and the “salvific” or “missionary”, that is, her commitment and anguish over the mission of salvation. Nevertheless, in both there is “com-passion”, that is, she suffers together with those who suffer, be it her son Jesus or the other sons and daughters.

9. Today, the mother of sorrows stands for us like a mother who understands our human predicament, cares for us with the deepest concern, shares in our lot in solidarity, bears our burden in silence and patience and assures us a re-ignited hope in our own human struggles.

My Practice: In our sorrows, let us shelter ourselves in the maternal bosom of Mary. Like her, let us become a little more strong and persevering in times of trials. Let us become more tender and sensitive to feel one with the suffering and struggle of others. Let us become more compassionate to alleviate the pain of others