Jesus is Helped by Simon to Carry the Cross ~ The Eighth Station

They led him out to crucify him. They enlisted a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, father of Alexander and Rufus, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross. (Mark 15:21)

John's Gospel tells us that Jesus carried his own cross. The other three gospels tell us Simon helped Jesus. Often cross carriers had already been so abused in prison they didn't make it to the place of execution. A helper might be commissioned along the way to be sure the guards got to do their killing job.

We don't know the extent to which Simon was forced to help Jesus. But he did, and that's how he is remembered thousands of years to today - as a helper. We don't need to complicate it.

A once vital Catholic man and his wife declined mentally and physically and their front and back lawns turned into waist high weed fields. Eventually some Protestant men got a group together from their own parish and spent the day with brush-hogger and scythes taming the place. Soon afterwards it became known that someone from the group said to a Catholic man, "You people don't even take care of your own." 

Is this always true? No. Is it sometimes true? Yes. Was it true in this case? Yes. Is it a shame? Yes.  Simon of Cyrene was a helper. 

The Fifth Station ~ Simon Of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry The Cross

In this scene Simon has picked up the cross in all of its great weight, and Jesus is allowing himself to be helped. And as Jesus is always teaching, even on the way to his death, there is something for me to learn. Am I teachable? 

Allowing Simon to help with the cross, Jesus might be saying to me personally: 

• "Maybe you need to learn that you're not invincible." 
• "Perhaps you need to admit to someone else that you're having    a hard time keeping it all together." 
• "You possibly need to hear yourself saying (or thinking) I can      do it all by myself, thank you." 
• "Maybe you need to stop trying to be a one-man-show.' 

People who don't allow others to see them as vulnerable and needy are going to have a hard time getting close to God. On this road of sorrows, Jesus models for us our fundamental stance before God. "The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and those who are crushed in spirit he saves." (Psalm 34:19) 

Jesus isn't a weakling because he accepts help, but his is humble. And humble means: "I'm no different; I'm weak and needy, just like all the others."

A moment of silence

Our Father Who art in heaven...

Hail Mary full of grace...

Glory be to the Father...

Simon Helps Jesus Carry The Cross ~ The Fifth Station

Aloysius Gonzaga was born in 1568 into a family of tremendous wealth and aristocratic prestige. By age seven he showed an inclination to religious life. By age nine he possessed the clarity and conscience to describe the society in which he lived as full of "fraud, dagger, poison and lust." At age twelve he was invested as a prince, but decided to transfer his superabundant inheritance to his brother, Ridolfo.

At age thirteen, Aloysius entered the Society of Jesus, against the furious and abusive protests of his family. Even priests and bishops were sent to convince Aloysius to give up the idea. But defeated by the boy's powerful perseverance, Aloysius' father relented, allowing him to go off to begin priesthood studies at Rome in 1585. 

In 1589 there was an outbreak of the plague in Rome and Aloysius asked permission to help take care of the many who were dying. Father Cepari describes the times: "It was a horrible thing to see the dying creeping to the hospitals, stinking and loathsome, and sometimes to behold them giving up their last breath in corners or falling down head first on the stairs." Within two years Aloysius became a victim of the disease himself and died. 

Father Martindale writes of Aloysius: "By nature he was a hard man; uncompromising; going through life with his teeth clenched." With the energy his family gave to warfare and family fighting, Aloysius gave himself to Christ - a new Simon of Cyrene helping Jesus to carry his cross. 

Do I ever clench my teeth for the things of Christ?

Another Way of the Cross ~ Simon Helps Jesus

I MUSTN'T MINIMIZE SIMON'S kindness just because the gospel tells us he was "pressed into service." We all know this kind of scenario: the telephone rings and there's an urgent request and I'd rather be left alone to eat my meal, listen to my music, finish my work or watch my show.

A woman's van flipped and went off the road on a snowy evening. A window was broken and the the vehicle's interior quickly grew cold. A passerby stopped. After phoning for an ambulance, she stayed with the driver who couldn't be moved. Covering her legs with her own coat and holding her hand, she prayed for the people who were coming to help and for all the people traveling on dangerous roads. 

As the gurney was being put into the ambulance, the Samaritan said good-bye with warm wishes and a kiss. Simon walked with Jesus and helped him one step at a time. Love is kind.

Our Father Who Art in Heaven...

Hail Mary full of grace...

Glory be to the Father...

The Fifth Station ~ Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross

THE GOSPEL TELLS US that Simon was coming home from his work in the fields when the soldiers forced him to help carry Jesus' cross awhile. His having been beaten so severely, the soldiers were afraid Jesus wouldn't make it to the top of Calvary. That would mean trouble for them.

We can imagine Simon's fear having to get involved in this execution. Maybe he was afraid that he'd be hurt by the surrounding violence, or that this was going to take more time than he could afford, or fear of what others would think of his contact with this condemned man. Or perhaps he was simply lost in un-imagined fears.

Oh Jesus, I am a slave to fear, free me! I want to sing, My heart is ready O God, my heart is ready. Ready to serve. Ready to learn. Ready to be generous. Ready to trust. Ready...