I’d like to know! Have you been to Calvary? Have you taken yourself
there in your prayer and
meditations? If you have a good imagination, have you taken yourself there
in contemplation? What did
you see? What did you hear? What did you smell? What did you feel? What
did you say to Jesus, to
Our Lady, to God, the Father? Did you weep in sorrow for your sins? Did you
resolve to avoid all sin
with the help of God’s grace? Will you be forever affected by your being on
Calvary in your prayer?
Let’s go together! Come with me! Now! In the space of this article we
cannot exhaust all that
could be experienced on that hill, but let us begin!
Jesus has just reached Calvary!
The first thing I note are the mean words people are shouting out! They
are calling Jesus names,
laughing at Him, jeering at Him. They are calling Our Blessed Mother names,
derogatory names one
might call a prostitute. They call her names simply because she is the
Mother of the One they call a
blasphemer! She seems to pay little attention to what they say about her,
but she is grieved deeply at
what they say to and about her Son! She knows that He is Innocence Itself,
Love Itself, Goodness Itself.
How can human beings be so mean?
The soldiers pull the garments of Jesus from Him and wounds that dried to
His clothing are
reopened. Jesus is humiliated greatly to be naked before the eyes of others.
Purity suffers from the
glances of the impure.
Our Lady quickly removes her inner veil, hands it to
John, the Beloved Apostle,
who receives permission from Longinus, the officer in charge, to give it to
Jesus. Jesus, who has turned
His back to those who are laughing at Him, recognizes the veil of His Mother,
ties it about His loins and
awaits further orders from the soldiers.
More than what she hears, Our Lady is grieved at the sight of her Son!
What have they done to
Him? He is comely no more! His Flesh literally hangs in strips from His
Body. The scourging not only
beat Him, but tore and ripped flesh from Him. His Holy Face is swollen, His
eyes are swollen, and
nearly shut, His lips are swollen, bruised and cracked. Is there any inch on
His Body that is not bleeding
and wounded? No! He is one human wound!
Dear Jesus, my sins have caused You all of this suffering. How terrible
my sins are, if they have
brought all this agony to You! Please forgive me, Lord, and help me never to
sin again, never to choose
anything before or in place of You! How much You love me, Lord, to be
willing to endure all of this
that I might spend eternity in Heaven with You! What love you have for me, a
poor and wretched
creature! How much You want to forgive me!
Dear reader, please prepare yourself to make a good confession soon,
before Easter.
Next week, let’s further contemplate what happened on Calvary!
God bless you!