Please come with me to Calvary again.
The soldiers have placed the cross, on which Jesus is to be nailed, on
the ground. They order Jesus to lie on it. Jesus does not balk, complain or struggle in any way
against their order.
Knowing that He is about to suffer the most excruciating pain of having nails pounded into
His wrists and feet, Jesus
does not hesitate. He is the perfectly obedient Son.
Mystics, who have been given the gift and pain of seeing the crucifixion
of Our Lord, describe
the following.
Holes have been pre-made into the cross so that the nails
would more readily enter. They
nail the right wrist of Jesus first. I say “wrist” because the weight of a
human being could not be held, if
nails were put into the palm of the “victim’s” hands. The weight of any
human body would tear through
the flesh of the hands.
With the first strike of the hammer, Jesus cries aloud in pain, and tears
fall from His eyes. The
nail has struck a nerve, sending excruciating pain into Our Lord’s hand,
wrist, and arm. The fingers of
His right hand draw inward as the injured nerve contracts and writhes them.
At hearing the loud cry of her Son, Our Blessed Mother also cries out in
pain for her Jesus, her
Innocent Son.
Anyone who thinks Our Lady stood stoically emotionless on
Golgotha, fails to see her as
THE Sorrowful Mother. What mother could stand by and see her son tortured so
cruelly and not be in
great emotional agony herself?
Because she hurt so badly does not mean she
was not resigned to the
Will of God. If she was to be the Co-Redemptrix, she would cooperate with
God by suffering with her
Son for our salvation.
So did she weep tears? If Jesus did, how can we think she was stoical?
Yes, Our Blessed
Mother did weep bitterly. Our sins caused her, the sinless woman, great
sorrow, great grief.
Who can stand to see their mother cry and not be affected? Who can stand
to see Our Heavenly
Mother cry and not be affected?
The hole placed in the cross for Our Lord’s left wrist was too far away.
A soldier, with one foot
in Our Lord’s left arm pit, and the other on Our Lord’s neck, literally
pulled the arm of Jesus out of its
socket. Can you hear the squishing sound of torn ligaments?
No bone of
Jesus was broken, but sinews
were torn. What pain! What agony? Have any of us endured such?
To spare His Mother, Jesus held back a cry when the nail was pounded into
His left wrist, but
once again the tears came.
Then one nail for both feet! What a spike it would have had to have been!
Dear Lord, Jesus! Once again I beg You to forgive me all my sins. I am
responsible for Your
great suffering! I nailed You to that cross! What a fool I really am!
Please give me the grace never to
offend You ever again! Grant that I may love You always, then do with me
what You will.
God bless you, dear reader. Please come with me to Calvary again next
week.