Lets look at the experience of Mary. It must have been exhilarating - not to mention frightening - to be chosen by God to bear his Son. There must have been much joy and wonderment after the announcement by the angel, and following the birth, and in the wake of the divinely appointed meetings with shepherds and magi.

However, pain was interwoven with the joy and wonderment. There was the pain of rejection as Mary faced being put away, even if secretly, by the man to whom she was betrothed (Matthew 1:18-25). There was the hardship of traveling to Bethlehem while carrying a child. There was the fear and anxiety of the flight from Herod into Egypt - fear for the safety of her child, for herself and Joseph.

Years later, she grappled with the confusion and anxiety of losing her child in the crowded streets of Jerusalem (see Luke 2:41-51), and losing the adult Jesus to his own divine purposes (see Luke 8:19-21).

And of course, in the end, there was the terrible loss of watching Roman soldiers nail her son to a cross. Mary was forewarned of this death by Simeon. She met this righteous and devout man in the temple, where she had brought the child Jesus to present him to the Lord. Simeon took the child in his arms and prophesied, telling Mary, "A sword will pierce even your own soul." From the beginning, joy and sorrow intertwined themselves vine-like in Mary's heart. Just as they do in the hearts of many people this season.

Joy and pain are part of life. There is a parable that Jesus told - the parable of the tares and the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30). In this parable a farmer planted a field of wheat and then rested from his labor. But while he slept, "his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them."

This parable teaches us that evil and good are bound together in this world until the end of time. Good is always welcome. But how do we greet evil and suffering? While each of us has his or her way of coping, ultimately it is Jesus who comforts. Let us remember that, while he himself suffered on the cross, he still remembered Mary, his mother. He called out to a disciple standing near the cross, giving him the responsibility of her care (John 19:26-27) :

Jesus seeks to comfort the pierced heart. This Christmas season, he might do this by bringing someone into our life who has the gift of encouragement, through a passage of comfort in the scriptures, or through his presence in a time of prayer.

Let us pause - in the midst of the frantic pace so characteristic of the season - to reflect on Mary, the one who both rejoiced and suffered. And let us also reflect on the one who comforted her, and provided for her during a time of crisis and of pain... on the one who himself was born to suffer...