Mar 29, 2015 |
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Ever since the Fall, nakedness has been associated with shame.
In the beginning it was not so. St John Paul II reminded us in his catechesis sessions that “Original Man” was naked without shame.
Consider that the Artist responsible for the beauty of the human body was disrobed at the hands of the descendants of the original “vandals” who introduced shame and caused the body to require covering.
This is not an event peripheral to the Redemptive Act. Rich in its symbolism, this is a stunning reversal of the harm we did. Our Lord reunites dignity and nakedness, and in allowing Himself to be so treated, stands in silent insistence that we were made in His image.
Inviting us to return to intimacy with the Blessed Trinity, Our Lord gives Himself in a gift that is total, down to the very garment on His back, and the flesh that would have been torn off along with it.
Faced with such love beyond measure, how can we not be moved to give our everything (including perhaps our broken hopes and dreams) to Him – love for Love?
By AfterEpiphany.
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Mar 26, 2015 |
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Oh Jesus! You are so close to the end, and yet You fall this third time. By now, Your strength is gone. Your body is crumpled on the ground, blood mixing with the dirt. As you lay there, I wonder if You will really stand and continue.
Lord, there are times in my life when the pain is too great to continue and my heart is crumpled in a heap on the rocky, dusty ground. I fall under the weight of my own sins, inadequacies, and past hurts. The weight of my own shattered dreams, too, drives me to the ground. I have carried them so far – must I continue? These shattered dreams – so painful, yet somehow part of Your plan and therefore good for me – have pushed me to the ground before. Then, I rose and continued, only to fall again…and now again. This third time is simply too much. Will this never end? I say this and then bite my tongue. The end is so close. I know how it ends. How can I take one more step towards the end, towards THAT end?
Lord, I give up. I cannot continue. This cross is too heavy to bear. I give up.
I give IT up. Take it, Lord, and carry it for me, because I cannot continue. Take my cross, these hurts, these sins, these shattered dreams. I surrender them all to You. In this moment, as I lie bloody and exhausted, in makes no sense to me. I cannot see how this is good. And yet You are good, and somehow this makes sense to YOU. So take it – here. Take it, please, for I need Your help. Help me to trust You. Help me to trust that You are good, that even this pain will work for good. Give me the patience to wait in hope. Calvary will not be the end. This suffering will not be wasted. Death leads to a life more glorious than before. Jesus, help me.
By Amata.
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Mar 25, 2015 |
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
I slept, but with my heart awake
To hear His footsteps passing by;
His hair was damp with blood and sweat.
He had no looks to draw the eye,
Flayed bare and crowned with thorns and yet
I loved. He fell, and rose to die;
My spirit languished for His sake.
“My love, My sister, come to Me”
His anguish called me, and I came
My veil God-stained for all to see.
O women of Jerusalem
Who walk with us to Calvary
Swear now by all that bears His name
You will not part my love from me.
By Spiritu.
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Mar 24, 2015 |
Shape us in the likeness of the divine nature of our Redeemer,
Whom we believe to be true God and true Man,
since it was Your Will, Lord God,
that He, Your Word, should take to Himself our human nature
in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Mar 22, 2015 |
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
This second fall serves as a powerful reminder that we follow both a human and a divine Savior. Neither He nor we are immune from suffering in this life. Take a moment and ponder: if Christ had given up the whole project of redemption at this moment, where would that leave humanity? How tempting is it for us to walk away when life gets uncomfortable? No person enjoys being face to face with their weaknesses and shortcomings.
Yet, there is good news in this dark moment. St. Paul reminds us that when we are weak, Christ’s strength is all the greater. Fortunately for us, Christ does get up after the second fall. He continues, not out of stubborness, but out of love. This self-giving love is the true message of the second fall. Only when we are willing to suffer for love do we continue on the path to freedom and salavation in Christ. When we embrace our second, third, fourth, and (so many other) falls – we share Christ’s path to love.
By Sister Madeleine Miller OSB.
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Mar 19, 2015 |
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, for by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
During my time in the convent, I spent a week on retreat preparing to become a postulant. In my community, the biggest external change from being an aspirant to being a postulant was getting to wear a veil, so we spent a lot of time that week meditating on its significance. One day, I was praying the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary with the Sisters, and during the fourth mystery, the carrying of the cross, I was especially struck by thinking about Veronica using her veil to wipe Jesus’ Face. I realized that receiving my veil was a sign of my calling to comfort and console Jesus and make reparation for sin.
But I no longer wear a veil, and only God knows if it is His plan for me to wear one again in the future. Does this mean that Jesus has rejected my desire to make reparation to His wounded Heart? By no means! In fact, in a way, I share more in common with Veronica now, for we both have removed our veils for love of Christ. Yes, this act has brought suffering, but by offering it up to Our Lord in union with His sufferings, this can be a beautiful way to console Jesus and draw closer to Him.
If you think about it, Veronica’s small gesture of love and compassion really was nothing compared to the enormity of the sufferings Jesus was enduring that day. In the same way, our daily acts, our little acts of charity and suffering may seem little in comparison to all the ways God is offended in our world. But as St. Therese teaches, “Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.” In the eyes of the world, Veronica’s act of kindness may not seem to amount to much, but to Jesus it was a precious gift that He rewarded by imprinting the image of His holy Face upon her veil. What Jesus wants most is our love. He thirsts for each one of us and longs for each of us is for us to give Him our heart. Each moment He is knocking at the door of our heart. Let us open to Him and give Him ourselves completely to Him. In this way we can follow the example of Veronica, and by doing so, Jesus will imprint His image ever more and more clearly on the hearts of each one of us, His beloved daughters, as we seek to become more and more like Him.
By Emily.
Back to Lent 2015 Stations of the Cross Reflections
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Shape us in the likeness of the divine nature of our Redeemer,
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
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