The Road to Calvary
1. After having been condemned to death, Jesus is delivered into the
hands of the Jews to be crucified as a malefactor. Two rough beams of
wood are fixed together in the form of a cross and placed upon His
shoulders. He is already worn out with suffering and has lost large
quantities of blood as a result of the scourging and of the crowning
with thorns. Jesus does not reject the
Cross, but embraces it. He has come into this world to show forth His
infinite love and to redeem us from our sins by His sufferings and
death. In the garden of Gethsemane He has said with sublime resignation
to the Heavenly Father: “Not my will but thine be done.” (Luke 22:42)
The Cross is too heavy for His human strength, but what does that
matter? He embraces it, takes it upon His weary shoulders and sets out
for Calvary.
Perhaps we have often kissed the Crucifix with
reverence and affection. Let us keep it hanging upon the walls of our
home where we can gaze on it with love and hope. Let us pray before it
in our moments of need. But what about our own cross? Do we love our
cross as Jesus loved His? Do we embrace it as Jesus did? Do we bow
willingly beneath the load as He did, and do we carry it with
resignation and without useless complaints? It is not enough to love the
Crucifix. We must love our own cross as well in silence and in prayer,
knowing that only in this way can we imitate Jesus Who has said to us:
“If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)
2. Jesus walks
towards Calvary, carrying His cross. With every step and with every jerk
His wounds reopen and pour blood. His shoulders, torn by the rough
wood, are lacerated with unimaginable pain. In His exhaustion He
stumbles many times, but He rises and takes up the cross again. How
often do we complain of our cross and of God because He has given it to
us? How often have we cursed it, or at least said to God in our prayers
that the cross is too heavy and that we should like Him to give us a
lighter one.... But this will not do. Everyone must carry his own cross,
and nobody else's every day of his life. If the load seems too heavy,
let us look at Jesus. He Who is supremely innocent has carried His cross
as far as Calvary. Why should we, who are sinners, not have to carry
ours? Let us recall the teaching of the masters of the spiritual life,
namely, that the only way of perfection is the way of the cross.
3. Jesus meets His most holy mother Mary on the road to Calvary. His
divine gaze meets her motherly eyes as she looks upon her only son and
her God. There is no word of comfort on either side, for their hearts
fully understand one another. Mary knows that her son is the Redeemer
who has come to save fallen humanity by His bloody death, and Jesus
knows that, as the holy Simeon has foretold, a mystical sword must
pierce the heart of His Mother, now become the Queen of Martyrs. Let us
turn to Mary also in our moments of sorrow, especially when our cross
seems too heavy for us. Our loving Mother will dry our tears and give
comfort to our hearts.
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