ONE MINUTE STABAT

(It takes 1 minute to read. 5 minute STABAT is in your velada souvenir book, 20 minute STABAT is in the old blog, click HERE)
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25 years ago, we chose as our class motto STABAT, or “Mary stood at the foot of the cross.” For many of us, this is simply what it meant: to bear our sorrows, to bear our suffering.

But when I recently began to think about it again, with the perspective of an adult, and tempered by life’s experiences, I wondered: How did Mary even have the strength to stand at the foot of the cross, how did she get there, and what did she do afterwards?

Upon reflection, and yes, inspiration from the internet, I realized that Mary got to the foot of the cross, by experiencing the Way of the Cross herself, and for her, it was the Via Dolorosa. At each station of the cross, Mary went through the following: Sorrow, Pain, Grief, Suffering, Gratitude, Compassion, Disbelief, Anguish, Torment, Mercy. Then, in order for her to be able to STAND, she had to come to a space of Surrender and Acceptance, thereby allowing Grace to come in, and finally, Renewal.

Today, 25 years later, I decided that instead of using my teenager’s vantage point at the foot of the cross, I must look up. And what did I discover? Jesus himself, was no longer on the cross -- he died, and was buried, and he rose again. Mary herself, walked away from the cross, was reunited with her son, and was bodily assumed into heaven.

So should we, dear classmates, move ahead, and change our perspective, after all these 25 years? Instead of thinking of our motto STABAT, as a still picture, that of us simply standing at the foot of the cross, I propose that we look at STABAT as a dynamic motto, where we go through the Via Dolorosa, allow ourselves to come to a point of acceptance and surrender, thereby having the strength to stand up, then moving from there to our own resurrection and renewal.

STABAT then becomes a journey,

an amazing journey of faith

from AGONY to RESURRECTION.

It is no longer simply just "standing up."

So, did we choose the right motto 25 years ago? From where I stand now, I think so.

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Given as my personal reflection after Communion at our mass on Old Girls Day, Oct. 15, 2006