Jesus is dead. From his heart, pierced by the lance of the Roman soldier, flow blood and water: a mysterious image of the stream of the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist by which the Church is constantly reborn from the opened heart of the Lord. Jesus’ legs are not broken like those of the two men crucified with him. He is thus revealed as the true Paschal Lamb, not one of whose bones must be broken (cf Ex 12:46).
And now, at the end of his sufferings, it is clear that, for all the dismay that filled people’s hearts, for all the power of hatred and cowardice, he was never alone. There are faithful ones who remain with him. Under the cross stand Mary, his Mother, the sister of his Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and the disciple whom he loved. A wealthy man, Joseph of Arimathea, appears on the scene: a rich man is able to pass through the eye of a needle, for God has given him the grace. He buries Jesus in his own empty tomb, in a garden. At Jesus’ burial the cemetery becomes a garden, the garden from which Adam was cast out when he abandoned the fullness of life, his Creator. The garden tomb symbolizes that the dominion of death is about to end. (more…)
On Jesus’ Way of the Cross, we also find Mary, his Mother. During his public life she had to step aside to make place for the birth of Jesus’ new family, the family of his disciples. She also had to hear the words: “Who is my mother and who are my brothers? … Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Mt 12:48-50).
Now we see her as the Mother of Jesus not only physically, but also in her heart. Even before she conceived him bodily, through her obedience she conceived him in her heart. It was said to Mary: “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. He will be great and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David” (Lk 1:31£f.). And she would hear from the mouth of the elderly Simeon: “A sword will pierce through your own soul” (Lk 2:35). She would then recall the words of the prophets, words like these: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he was like a lamb that is led to slaughter” (Is 54:7).
Now it all takes place. In her heart she had kept the words of the angel, spoken to her in the beginning: “Do not be afraid, Mary” (Lk 1:30). The disciples fled, yet she did not flee. She stayed there, with a mother’s courage, a mother’s fidelity, a mother’s goodness, and a faith that did not waver in the hour of darkness: “Blessed is she who believed” (Lk 1:45). “Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Lk 18:8). Yes, in this moment Jesus knows he will find faith. In this hour, this is his great consolation. (more…)
The tradition that Jesus fell three times beneath the weight of the cross evokes the fall of Adam-the state of fallen humanity-and the mystery of Jesus’ own sharing in our fall. Throughout history the fall of man constantly takes on new forms. In his First Letter, Saint John speaks of a threefold fall: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He thus interprets the fall of man and humanity against the backdrop of the vices of his own time, with all its excesses and perversions. But we can also think, in more recent times, of how a Christianity grown weary of faith has abandoned the Lord. The great ideologies, and the banal existence of those who, no longer believing in anything, simply drift through life, have built a new and worse paganism, which in its attempt to do away with God once and for all has ended up doing away with man. And so humanity lies fallen in the dust. The Lord bears this burden in order to meet us. He gazes on us; he touches our hearts; he falls in order to raise us up. (more…)
OPENING PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, for our sake you became like the grain of wheat that falls to the earth and dies, so that it may bear much fruit (cf. Jn.12:24). You invited us (more…)
OPENING PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, for our sake you became like the grain of wheat that falls to the earth and dies, so that it may bear much fruit (cf. Jn.12:24). You invited us to follow you along this path when you told us “the one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (Jn.12:25). Yet we are attached to our life. We do not want to abandon it; we want to keep it all for ourselves. We want to hold on to it, not to give it away. But you go before us, showing us that it is only by giving away our life that we can save it.
As we walk with you on the Way of the Cross, you lead us along the way of the grain of wheat, the way of a fruitfulness that leads to eternity. The cross, our self-offering, weighs heavily upon us. Along your own Way of the Cross you also carried my cross. Nor did you carry it just at one distant moment in the past, for your love continues to accompany every moment of my life. Today you carry that cross with me and for me, and, amazingly, you want me, like Simon of Cyrene, to join you in carrying your cross; you want me to walk at your side and place myself with you at the service of the world’s redemption.
Grant that my Way of the Cross may not be just a moment of passing piety. Help all of us to accompany you not only with noble thoughts, but with all our hearts and in every step we take each day of our lives. Help us resolutely to set out on the Way of the Cross and to persevere on your path. Free us from the fear of the cross, from the fear of mockery, from the fear that our life may escape our grasp unless we cling possessively to everything it has to offer. Help us to unmask all those temptations that promise life, but whose enticements in the end leave us only empty and deluded. Help us not to take life, but to give it. As you accompany us on the path of the grain of wheat, help us to discover, in “losing our lives,” the path of love, the path that gives us true life, and life in abundance (Jn.10:10).
Opening prayer to the Way of the Cross 2005 by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger now Pope Benedict XVI
This article is being presented in three parts over three consecutive days.
Part 3 – The Miraculous Image Appears
Before anyone knew what she was doing, Veronica ripped off the veil that covered her own head. She acted so quickly no one could exercise any effort to stop her. They were indeed shocked at the sight of this young, beautiful woman, who had removed the customary veil, unheard of — and thus revealed herself and masses of her long, dark curls. She extended her arms to Him. (more…)
This article is being presented in three parts over three consecutive days.
Part 2 – Veronica Wipes the Face of Our Lord
The three women, no longer conscious or caring about their planned errands, thanked her, and began the retreat back to their homes, when one of them, the youngest, ever impetuous, stopped and asserted, “I must go and see for myself if this terrible story is true.” “You cannot go to that cruel road. You will be crushed by the crazed hordes, those who thrive on these brutal methods of killing.” “Even so,” she asserted, “I am going.” (more…)
This article will be presented in three parts in three consecutive days.
Part 1 – Veronica Hears of the Condemnation
The three women covered themselves carefully, as the March air was still cold with a penetrating damp. Each brought along a basket, for this was the day to purchase necessary foods and wine for the solemn Passover feast. There was the customary anticipation in them, as they planned their celebration in the traditional way, recalling and reliving the truths they had been taught since they were children. At the same time they talked in awed tones of the new movement spreading throughout their community and the larger part of their world was a movement they believed in, but did not know was destined to change everything. (more…)
R/. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
From the Gospel according to Matthew. 27:33-36 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull), they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there.
MEDITATION: Jesus is stripped of his garments. Clothing gives a man his social position; it gives him his place in society, it makes him someone. His public stripping means that Jesus is no longer anything at all, he is simply an outcast, despised by all alike. The moment of the stripping reminds us of the expulsion from Paradise: God’s splendor has fallen away from man, who now stands naked and exposed, unclad and ashamed. And so Jesus once more takes on the condition of fallen man. Stripped of his garments, he reminds us that we have all lost the “first garment” that is God’s splendor. (more…)
R/. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
From the Gospel according to Luke. 2:34-35,51: Simon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed”. And his mother kept all these things in her heart.
MEDITATION: On Jesus’ Way of the Cross, we also find Mary, his Mother. During his public life she had to step aside, to make place for the birth of Jesus’ new family, the family of his disciples. She also had to hear the words: “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?… Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is brother, and sister and mother” (Mt 12:48-50). (more…)
All Meditations from the WAY OF THE CROSS AT THE COLOSSEUM, GOOD FRIDAY 2005
by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
FIRST STATION : Jesus is condemned to death
V/. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
[We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee]
R/. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
[For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.]
From the Gospel according to Matthew 27:22-23,26 Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!” Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. (more…)
