 to assist Him We have arrived at the most difficult part of Lent, having already spent 5 weeks working at abstinence, prayer, and almsgiving. As the days of Holy Week draw near we may feel like our commitments have become an increasingly difficult struggle, perhaps because we are tiring, just as Jesus must have tired in the desert when He was tempted, and as He most certainly was when He was beaten down and carrying the cross. Beginning with Passion Sunday, Holy Week calls us deeper into the Way of the Cross, to accompany Jesus every painful step of the way to Golgotha. An appropriate place to begin this process anew, (or perhaps more profoundly), is to go further than simply walking with Him, but to help Him; that is, to assist Him in carrying His cross. We should recall that Jesus told His followers that we must pick up our cross and follow Him; therefore, through our prayerful meditation, we might understand what that means more clearly by becoming as Simon of Cyrene, assisting the Lord under the cruel burden laid upon His shoulders.  the path is narrow and few are able to travel it Picking up our cross is about more than simply accepting our suffering, but it is also about embracing the mission to which we are called. As disciples we are called to help spread the gospel taught by Jesus, assisting in the work of building the Kingdom; that is, to evangelization through word and deed, living the gospel message through acts of humble service, and works of mercy. To pick up our cross is to fight the spiritual battle that is being waged against us, to recognize it and to actively fight divisiveness and the values of the world. The battle is not just in society, but it is personal because the evil one wants to attack each of us at our weakest points so that we stumble and fall; he will go for our wounds and exploit them, attempting to convince us that his path is easier than the path of Jesus. In short, he does not want us to follow the way of Jesus, planting the temptation that it is too difficult and that he offers a better, easier way. Jesus said the path is narrow and few are able to travel it. We can see that the path He took to the Cross was the narrowest of all because of the terrible suffering and attack on every side. Indeed, by helping Jesus carry His cross we learn how to carry our own, and we also fight the power of evil.  we will be challenged to stay awake Therefore, we are called to move forward toward the Cross of Jesus, not away. Throughout their time with Jesus, the apostles continually struggled to understand this, so if we are having difficulty, we are not alone. Nonetheless, it is important that we be present during His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, even though we will be challenged to remain awake. If we stay alert and attentive we will observe the horrible struggle Jesus endured that was so intense He sweat blood, but yet by the end of it, He freely chose the Father’s will. When the betrayal and arrest took place, all of the apostles scattered, running away from the danger and not toward where Jesus was taken; except one, (John), no one followed Him to the foot of the cross. How easy it is to run away rather than toward suffering; therefore, we must remember to pray to the Holy Spirit for the graces we need, especially those of discernment, courage, and perseverance through temptations, attacks, and the consequent suffering that we may experience.  ...to be washed in the blood of Jesus Jesus asked for our presence in the Garden when He begged, “Remain here, and watch with me.” (Matthew 26:38) He wants us to go with Him all the way to the cross: when Jesus is before the Sanhedrin and then Pontius Pilate, and is scourged, beaten, crowned with thorns, and finally given His cross to carry, He wants us with Him not just to comfort Him, but so that we might understand more fully that as we labor under our crosses, He unites Himself to us. As He carries His cross, Jesus continues to teach and minister to His disciples. We must be like Simon of Cyrene, assisting the Lord on the way to Calvary. It is unclear if Simon was forced to carry the cross or if he chose to do it, but we can be sure that at the end of his journey to Calvary with Jesus, no matter what he was like before, Simon was transformed. He came into direct contact with the blood of Jesus; it is not mentioned in the gospels, but there is no way he could have carried the crossbeam, first shouldered by so bloodied a man as Jesus, and not have gotten some of His blood on him. Therefore, Simon is the first to be ‘washed’ in the blood of Jesus, something we are also invited to do.* An interesting point to ponder is that St. Padre Pio, who bore the wounds of Christ (stigmata), said that the wound which caused Jesus the most pain, (and did so for him, too), was the hidden wound on His shoulder which was caused by the weight of the cross as He carried it. As we carry our hidden crosses, let us join with Simon, uniting our labors with Jesus, so that we, too, may be washed in His blood and therefore grow in purity and holiness.  attending to the Lord May we become more aware of the ways we are tempted to run from our crosses and instead embrace them! May we become more resolute in attending to the Lord as He thirsts for those who are His children but who do not believe! And may we take up the Cross of Jesus as Simon did, to be washed in the blood of the Lamb so that on the last day we will share in His victory! Let us meet at the Cross of Jesus! Peace!
©Michele L. Catanese Note: I suggest meditating in the way taught by St. Ignatius of Loyola in which we enter into the scene as we read the passage and then pray with it. St. Ignatius encouraged the prayerful process of letting the Lord use our imagination and senses to see, hear, feel, and touch that which is going on in the scene. Since God is the Lord of time and space, we are there spiritually and therefore we can gain insights into the events. I also encourage meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary in this manner. * In the NABRE version of the Bible the footnote to Matthew 5:41 says: “Roman garrisons in Palestine had the right to requisition the property and services of the native population.” Simon was from Cyrene which was in North Africa, and so he may have been a visitor, but he was a Jew. The footnote to Matthew 27:32 says: “Cyrenaica was a Roman province on the north coast of Africa and Cyrene was its capital city. The city had a large population of Greek-speaking Jews. Simon may have been living in Palestine or have come there for the Passover as a pilgrim.” -Also, the film Ben Hur (1959) deals with the power of the blood of Jesus in the crucifixion scene when Ben Hur’s mother and sister, afflicted with terrible leprosy, are cleansed by the blood of Jesus which ran from the Cross to where they were. It is an incredibly moving scene and affects Ben Hur’s conversion from a man of anger and vengeance, to a man of faith and forgiveness. (Full disclosure: Though it is a work of historical fiction, Ben Hur is my favorite biblical movie, if not my favorite film of all time.) Images: 1. Painting; Simon Helps Jesus Carry the Cross, by James Tissot. 2. My photo; Easy Road. This path is by the ski lift on the slopes of Copper Mountain, Copper, Colorado. 3. Painting; Agony in the Garden, by Andrea Mantegna, 1460. 4. Icon; La Sangre de Cristo, by Fr. William Hart McNichols. You can find this at https://fineartamerica.com/featured/la-sangre-de-cristo-242-william-hart-mcnichols.html 5. Icon; Our Lady of Magadan, by Fr. William Hart McNichols. It seems most appropriate to remember that Mary was with her Son the entire Way of the Cross. You can find this icon at https://fineartamerica.com/featured/our-lady-of-magadan-056-william-hart-mcnichols.html Note: In compliance with GDPR rules, I wish to make it clear that I do not gather any information on any of my readers at any time. Comments are closed.
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