STATION 4: JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER

Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed — and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
— Luke 2:34-35 (NRSV)

When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.”
He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them.
His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
— Luke 2:48–51 (NRSV)

Station 4

She is there.

In the crowd, in the chaos,
heart pounding in her chest—
Mary finds him.

This is her son.
The one she held close on quiet nights.
The one she taught to walk, to read, to pray.
The one she loved fiercely,
even when his calling pulled him away from her arms.

Now she sees him—
bloodied, burdened, broken.
And there is nothing she can do but meet his eyes.

There are no words in this moment.
Only presence.
Only the unspoken ache
of a mother who knew from the beginning
that her child would not be hers to keep.
Only the fierce courage of love
that refuses to look away.

This is what it means to follow Jesus:
not always to fix,
but to stay.
Not always to understand,
but to remain.

And some of the most sacred things
we carry in our hearts,
never fully understanding them,
only trusting that God is at work—
even in the heartbreak.

Let us pray.

Jesus, you met your mother on the road to death — and still, love passed between you.

No words.
Just presence.

We pray today for every parent who watches their child suffer, and for every child who feels the ache of separation. For families fractured by illness, war, distance, or grief.

Give them the strength to stay present when the pain feels like too much to bear. And give us all the courage to love even when we do not understand.

Teach us to stand beside those who hurt, not to fix them, but to remain with them.

Let us learn from Mary: what it means to love without limits, and to trust even when the sword pierces through.

Amen.