GOOD FRIDAY: BECOMING SIMON OF CYRENE

GOOD FRIDAY: BECOMING SIMON OF CYRENE

Perhaps like most people, I follow the Stations of the Cross, the Via Crucis, principally in Lent. I’ve always loved them, especially having lived each one of them on hallowed ground on my pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Walking in the footsteps of Christ. Standing where he was crucified. Praying at his tomb.

In the Stations, we live the last day of Jesus’ earthly life, following His every step, His every fall, His blood-stained face wiped by a woman named Veronica, standing with His Mother as she experiences her own excruciating pain. We see Mary of Magdala, the apostles, His followers who see his indescribable suffering – and yet can do nothing!  They did not fully know – but we do! – that Jesus’ suffering and death is to redeem mankind and that he will rise, defeating death. The Easter miracle!

The station that always struck me was the 5^th station.

That’s when the soldiers pick a man out of the crowd, Simon of Cyrene, to help Jesus carry his Cross. It seems they were afraid that Jesus, weak from blood loss from being scourged, crowned with thorns and falling down under the cross would not make it to Golgotha where he was to be crucified.  That could be embarrassing for the Roman soldiers.

A book I use when saying the rosary has this reflection for the 4^th Sorrowful Mystery, Jesus carries His Cross: “Sometimes it seems our cross is unbearable and we panic, thinking we will never be able to complete the course . This mystery teaches us that God will never allow us to be tested beyond our ability to endure. He will always make a way. As Jesus fell under the agonizing weight of the cross, His father sent Simon of Cyrene to help him carry it.”

Simon could see Jesus needed help and, even though he hadn’t volunteered, he stayed with Jesus. This makes me think: Do I see, do I sense, when others need help but do not ask for it? Do I go to them – no soldiers forcing me to help a fellow human being – no matter what, no excuses made?

I have had many Simons of Cyrene in my life. How many times have I been a Simon of Cyrene to people, helped them carry their cross?

 

 

CARRYING THE CROSS

GOOD FRIDAY 2023 – Holy See Press Office:   “Due to the intense cold of these days, Pope Francis will follow tonight’s Via Crucis from Casa Santa Marta, joining the prayers of those who will gather with the Diocese of Rome at the Colosseum.”

CARRYING THE CROSS

As we ponder many times throughout this day the Passion and Death of Our Savior, Jesus Christ, how many times do we try to really imagine Him carrying a heavy cross, having undergone a brutal beating and being crowned with thorns? Bearing all of this, accepting all of this pain and anguish for our sins and our salvation!

We know Jesus has helped each of us carry our crosses. Do we try to help him carry his burden?

This is one of my favorite photos of all times!   I do not remember where I saw it and would love to give credit where credit is due.

POPE FRANCIS AND THE CROSS OF CHRIST

POPE FRANCIS AND THE CROSS OF CHRIST

Good Friday at 9:15 pm, Pope Francis presides at the Via Crucis, the Way of the Cross, at the Colosseum. The texts of the meditations and prayers of the Stations of the Cross this year were prepared by Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, Archbishop of Perugia – Città della Pieve (Italy) on the theme “God is mercy.” The following prayer was composed by the Holy Father who will recite it during the Via Crucis.

O Cross of Christ!

 O Cross of Christ, symbol of divine love and of human injustice, icon of the supreme sacrifice for love and of boundless selfishness even unto madness, instrument of death and the way of resurrection, sign of obedience and emblem of betrayal, the gallows of persecution and the banner of victory.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you raised up in our sisters and brothers killed, burned alive, throats slit and decapitated by barbarous blades amid cowardly silence.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the faces of children, of women and people, worn out and fearful, who flee from war and violence and who often only find death and many Pilates who wash their hands.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in those filled with knowledge and not with the spirit, scholars of death and not of life, who instead of teaching mercy and life, threaten with punishment and death, and who condemn the just.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in unfaithful ministers who, instead of stripping themselves of their own vain ambitions, divest even the innocent of their dignity.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the hardened hearts of those who easily judge others, with hearts ready to condemn even to the point of stoning, without ever recognizing their own sins and faults.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in expressions of fundamentalism and in terrorist acts committed by followers of some religions which profane the name of God and which use the holy name to justify their unprecedented violence.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in those who wish to remove you from public places and exclude you from public life, in the name of a pagan laicism or that equality you yourself taught us.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the powerful and in arms dealers who feed the cauldron of war with the innocent blood of our brothers and sisters.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in traitors who, for thirty pieces of silver, would consign anyone to death.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in thieves and corrupt officials who, instead of safeguarding the common good and morals, sell themselves in the despicable market-place of immorality.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the foolish who build warehouses to store up treasures that perish, leaving Lazarus to die of hunger at their doorsteps.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the destroyers of our “common home”, who by their selfishness ruin the future of coming generations.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the elderly who have been abandoned by their families, in the disabled and in children starving and cast-off by our egotistical and hypocritical society.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas which have become insatiable cemeteries, reflections of our indifferent and anesthetized conscience.

O Cross of Christ, image of love without end and way of the Resurrection, today too we see you in noble and upright persons who do good without seeking praise or admiration from others.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in ministers who are faithful and humble, who illuminate the darkness of our lives like candles that burn freely in order to brighten the lives of the least among us.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the faces of consecrated women and men – good Samaritans – who have left everything to bind up, in evangelical silence, the wounds of poverty and injustice.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the merciful who have found in mercy the greatest expression of justice and faith.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in simple men and women who live their faith joyfully day in and day out, in filial observance of your commandments.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the contrite, who in the depths of the misery of their sins, are able to cry out: Lord, remember me in your kingdom!

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the blessed and the saints who know how to cross the dark night of faith without ever losing trust in you and without claiming to understand your mysterious silence.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in families that live their vocation of married life in fidelity and fruitfulness.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in volunteers who generously assist those in need and the downtrodden.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in those persecuted for their faith who, amid their suffering, continue to offer an authentic witness to Jesus and the Gospel.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in those who dream, those with the heart of a child, who work to make the world a better place, ever more human and just.

In you, Holy Cross, we see God who loves even to the end, and we see the hatred of those who want to dominate, that hatred which blinds the minds and hearts of those who prefer darkness to light.

O Cross of Christ, Arc of Noah that saved humanity from the flood of sin, save us from evil and from the Evil One. O Throne of David and seal of the divine and eternal Covenant, awaken us from the seduction of vanity! O cry of love, inspire in us a desire for God, for goodness and for light.

O Cross of Christ, teach us that the rising of the sun is more powerful than the darkness of night.

O Cross of Christ, teach us that the apparent victory of evil vanishes before the empty tomb and before the certainty of the Resurrection and the love of God which nothing can defeat, obscure or weaken. Amen!