Category: HOLY WEEK

Holy Week – Wednesday 12 April  – The Last Day of Lent

He freed us from the power of the enemy.
This is the last day of Lent.
It is “Spy Wednesday,” remembering the day Judas asked,
“What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?”

We read the third song of the Servant who suffers.
And we sense the acceptance, the surrender and the peace of Jesus.
I can imagine the treachery and tranquility of this day,
as I go through the real life drama of my day.
I can begin to feel the joy of the liberation being offered me.

If I haven’t done so already,
this can be a wonderful day to pray through the Stations of the Cross.

The Son of Man came not to be served,
but to serve
and to give his life
as a ransom for many.
Communion Antiphon  Matthew 20:28

The Eleventh Station:
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

It is hard to imagine a God being nailed to a cross by His own creatures.   It is even more difficult for my mind to understand a love that permitted such a thing to happen!   As those men drove heavy nails into Your hands and feet, dear Jesus, did You offer the pain as reparation for some particular human weakness and sin?   Was the nail in Your right hand for those who spend their lives in dissipation and boredom?

Was the nail in Your left hand in reparation for all consecrated souls who live lukewarm lives?   Were You stretching out Your arms to show us how much You love us?   As the feet that walked the hot, dusty roads were nailed fast, did they cramp up in a deadly grip of pain to make reparation for all those who so nimbly run the broad road of sin and self-indulgence?

It seems, dear Jesus, Your love has held You bound hand and foot as Your heart pleads for a return of love.   You seem to shout from the top of the hill “I love you – come to me – see, I am held fast – I cannot hurt you – only you can hurt Me.”   How very hard is the heart that can see such love and turn away.   Is it not true I too have turned away when I did not accept the Father’s Will with love?   Teach me to keep my arms ever open to love, to forgive and to render service – willing to be hurt rather than hurt, satisfied to love and not be loved in return.
Amen

The Twelfth Station:
Jesus Dies on the Cross

God is dead!   No wonder the earth quaked, the sun hid itself, the dead rose and Mary stood by in horror.   Your human body gave up it’s soul in death but Your Divinity, dear Jesus, continued to manifest its power.   All creation rebelled as the Word made Flesh departed from this world.   Man alone was too proud to see and too stubborn to acknowledge truth.

Redemption was accomplished!   Man would never have an excuse to forget how much You loved him.   The thief on Your right saw something he could not explain – he saw a man on a tree and knew He was God.  His need made him see his own guilt and Your innocence.   The Promise of eternal life made the remaining hours of his torture. endurable.

A common thief responded to Your love with deep Faith, Hope, and Love.   He saw more than his eyes envisioned – he felt a Presence he could not explain and would not argue with.   He was in need and accepted the way God designed to help him.

Forgive our pride, dear Jesus as we spend hours speculating, days arguing and often a lifetime in rejecting Your death, which is a sublime mystery.   Have pity on those whose intelligence leads them to pride because they never feel the need to reach out to the Man of Sorrows for consolation.
Amen

Stations of the Cross by Mother Angelica