In Reflexion

VIA CRUCIS – VII. Station: “Jesus falls the second time”                                     

Author ElijaPosted on

 

  1. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)
  2. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

Once again we see how difficult the way is. How many burdens does the Lord carry on His shoulders: the physical burden, the spiritual burden, all that is happening around Him, the cruelty of so many? But what weighs most on Him is the burden of sin, which brings separation from God, and which Jesus now takes upon Himself in His own flesh for our sake, depriving Himself of the glory of the Father.

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In Reflexion

VIA CRUCIS – VI Station: “Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus”                               

Author ElijaPosted on

V. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)

R. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

In Veronica, Jesus finds a kind soul, a soul that has compassion for Him. She does not mock Him, she does not turn her back on Him, nor is she indifferent to Him. With this gesture of love and compassion, she shows Him her heart by offering Him a handkerchief. Jesus understands the gesture and imprints His face on the cloth. He leaves a deep imprint of His being on this pious soul.

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In Reflexion

VIA CRUCIS – V Station: “Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus to Carry the Cross”                            

Author ElijaPosted on

 

  1. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)
  2. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

If the Lord had just been comforted by the encounter with His Mother, who loved Him with all her heart, He now experiences Simon’s forced help. The Scriptures do not reveal to us what the Cyrenian must have felt when he suddenly found himself so closely bound to the Lord’s destiny. Did he simply do his duty and then go on his way? Or did the Lord touch his heart, so that something happened within him? Was he before a mere spectator of the events surrounding Jesus of Nazareth or was his heart already open to the Lord? We do not know!

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In Reflexion

VIA CRUCIS – IV Station: “Jesus meets His Mother”                               

Author ElijaPosted on

V. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)

R. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

    An encounter of great depth… The Mother sees her suffering Son.

    She had said “yes” to the Father’s will and understood that her Son was the Saviour of the world. Now she sees Him walking this path of humiliation in order to exalt us men, just as the old man Simeon had foretold:

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    In Reflexion

    VIA CRUCIS – III. Station: “Jesus Falls the First Time”                               

    Author ElijaPosted on
    1. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)
    2. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

    The way of the Lord is unimaginably difficult! It was not only the physical suffering that tormented Him, but above all the weight of sin that He carried to the cross for us men. If a single sin weighs immensely on us until we have presented it to the Lord and received His forgiveness, how much more the countless faults of all mankind!

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    In Reflexion

    VIA CRUCIS – Station: 1. “Jesus carries His cross”                                  

    Author ElijaPosted on
    1. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)
    2. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

    In Roman times, criminals were punished by crucifixion. It was a death of dishonour and shame. The condemned died by suffocation.

    Jesus is not only condemned to crucifixion; He has to carry His own cross. They want to make a spectacle of Him for the people.

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    In Biblical Meditations

    VIA CRUCIS – 1. Station: “Jesus is condemned to death”

    Author ElijaPosted on
    1. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)
    2. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

    Jesus, the innocent One, stands before Pilate.

    An earthly judge, the representative of Rome, is to judge the Son of God.

    The leaders of His own people are His accusers. Those who were to lead the chosen people and prepare them for the coming of the Messiah did not recognise Him because they did not know the Father (Jn 8:19). This is what Jesus said to them.

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    In Biblical Meditations

    MEDITATIONS FOR LENT (Jn 19:31-42): “The burial and the descent to hell”                          

    Author ElijaPosted on

    Since it was the day of Preparation, in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the sabbath (for that sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, “Not a bone of him shall be broken.” And again another scripture says, “They shall look on him whom they have pierced.” After this Joseph of Arimathe′a, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave.

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    In Biblical Meditations

    MEDITATIONS FOR LENT (Jn 19:16-30): “It is finished”                          

    Author ElijaPosted on

    Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Gol′gotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; it read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. The chief priests of the Jews then said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and made four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom; so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.”

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    In Reflexion

    MEDITATIONS FOR LENT: “Conclusion of the Lenten Meditations”                        

    Author ElijaPosted on

    With today’s meditation I conclude this series which I began after the systematic reflections on the Gospel of St John in preparation for the great solemnity of Easter.

    A brief recapitulation is in order to highlight the essentials. After this meditation, we will return to the accounts of the Lord’s death and burial in the Gospel of John.

    The concept of ‘discretion’, which we have learned from the desert fathers and which means ‘discernment of spirits’ in ecclesiastical usage, has led us to look carefully at the situation in the Church and in the world and to apply it also to our spiritual life. In analysing the spiritual armour proposed in the Letter to the Ephesians, we have come to the conclusion that we must prepare ourselves for the spiritual combat, which goes beyond the personal sphere, especially when we consider the anti-Christian threats to the world and to the Church.

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