Meditation for Wednesday 03/25/26

Prayer Before and Prayer After

MEDITATION FOR WEDNESDAY

OF OUR FOLLOWING JESUS ON THE WAY OF THE CROSS

“And as they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country; and they laid the cross on him to carry after Jesus. And there followed Him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented Him” (Luke 23, 26-27).

First Prelude: In spirit follow your cross-laden Saviour through the streets of Jerusalem. Simon of Cyrene is forced to help Jesus carry His cross, and the women of Jerusalem compassionate the Saviour.

Second Prelude: Let me recognize, O my beloved Saviour, with what sentiments I should accompany Thee on the way to Calvary.

FIRST POINT

SIMON OF CYRENE HELPS JESUS CARRY THE CROSS

Covered with blood, with eyes cast down, the Saviour followed His inhuman executioners to Calvary. How great must have been the exhaustion and extreme weakness of Jesus when His enemies feared that He would not reach the place of punishment alive! Desiring to see Jesus expire on the cross, these miserable wretches compelled Simon of Cyrene to help Him carry His cross.

How must it have pained our beloved Saviour to see not one of His disciples, not one of the many friends whom He had cured and overloaded with favors, ready to confer such a service upon Him, but that a stranger had to be forced to it! At first Simon strove against the honor imposed upon him, considering it an indignity, but soon he was seized with compassion for the Divine Sufferer, and from that moment carried the cross joyfully. Yet, how blessed and meritorious was Simon’s portion in our Blessed Saviour’s cross! For all eternity he will rejoice and give thanks to God for the inestimable grace of having been chosen to carry His cross, through a special dispensation of Divine Providence.

Nothing happens in our life by chance; the loving hand of our heavenly Father directs all things for our good, and frequently utilizes crosses and reverses as channels of the greatest spiritual benefits. Should not love of Jesus inspire us with the desire to confer upon our suffering Saviour a similar favor? Who suffers for love of Jesus, assists Him as did Simon. Those especially render Him such a service of charity who serve Jesus in His poor and His little ones by assisting them to carry meritoriously the cross of poverty, privations, and every form of human affliction. If the cross of our vocation should seem to weigh heavily upon us, let us bear in mind the reward which the Lord will one day bestow upon all who in very deed were to Christ a Simon of Cyrene, by supporting Him in their suffering fellow-men. Note the beautiful words of the “Imitation”: “If thou carry the cross willingly, it will carry thee,—In the cross is salvation; in the cross is life; in the cross is protection from enemies. In the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the cross is strength of mind; in the cross is joy of spirit; in the cross is height of virtue; in the cross is perfection of sanctity.”

In the vast crowd following Jesus, there were none who compassionated Him. Finally a pious woman pressed through the throng, and fearing neither the violence of the brutal soldiers, nor the abusive words of the furious mob, handed our Blessed Lord a cloth to wipe the sweat from His sacred Brow. Nothing could deter her from showing compassion with her suffering Saviour. When she received back the cloth the sacred Face of Jesus was wonderfully imprinted on it.

The pious Veronica is the type of all religious who, urged by a self-annihilating love of their neighbor, walk the way of the cross to serve Jesus in His suffering members, to counsel and console them and to quicken their courage. They, too, may aspire to the reward of Veronica, for Jesus will imprint His sacred Image so indelibly on their hearts that the remembrance of Him will animate them to the most heroic sacrifices. Let us also consider the pious women who could not restrain their tears at sight of the torments and the humiliation of our Divine Lord. Their compassion was still imperfect, but the love of the Sacred Heart willed, nevertheless, to reward them for their tender pity, by exhorting them to prepare for the coming vengeance of Divine Justice upon Jerusalem, and to render their tears salutary for themselves by penance and contrition.

In His solicitude for others, Jesus again forgets Himself! We, on the contrary, occupied only with self, often forget our obligations toward others, when sufferings and trials break in upon us. O Jesus, impress Thy sacred Image on my heart, that the remembrance of Thy love may induce me to be compassionate with my neighbor.

Affections: I thank Thee, O my beloved Saviour, for having called me in Thy infinite love to follow Thee more perfectly on the way of the cross, as it were, to enter into Thy footprints. Oh, that as Thy true spouse, I would carry the cross of poverty, humiliations, and renunciation and thus merit to have Thy sacred, suffering Image impressed indelibly upon my soul! O my Saviour, grant that my fidelity may sweeten the bitterness of Thy anguish, and let me share in all the graces Thou hast merited for us on Thy painful journey to Calvary.

Resolution: I will prove my gratitude for the inexpressible sufferings of Jesus, by courageous self-control, and by tender compassion with my fellow-religious and those entrusted to me.

Spiritual Bouquet: “Far be it from me to glory save in the cross of Christ.”

Prayer: O Jesus, living in Mary . . .