Jesus Before Pilate ~ The First Station

HERE IS A PAINTING (1910) titled Christ Before Pilate, by Jacek Malczewski. Pilate is a young man, diddling with something, smiling slightly. Perhaps he is pondering the warning his wife whispered to him, not to have anything to do with Jesus because of what she's learned in a dream. 

Jesus is in the foreground of the painting. His tired head! His night in jail was sleepless. He has been shamed in the prison-madhouse where bullies rule. His bound hands are unable to wipe away the sting of spit, sweat and the blood trickling down from the wild crown of thorns pressed into his head by the uncensored soldiers who have been playing Make Believe King. Perhaps the gift of tears washed his eyes. 

But the face of Jesus is always beautiful because it is the face of humility, patience and gentleness. His face is beautiful because it is the face of solidarity with all who suffer degradation and disfigurement. Saint Paul writes:

"Never forget the nearness of your Lord. Don't worry over anything whatever. Whenever you pray tell God every detail of your needs in thankful prayer, and the peace of God will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds." (Philippians 4: 5-7)

This is the way of Jesus - always aware of God's closeness, surrendering everything to God. "Your will be done." Those who live this way know deep happiness, not the world's short-lived happiness but a deep peace of soul.

In the Amazon forest there are lepers whose disfigured faces are beautiful, revealing souls at peace with God and others. When the photographer entered the room of this leprous woman who has lost her legs and fingers, he said, "Good morning, how are you today?" and she answered, "Very well, thank you!"

Intercessions ~ The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Oldest known wooden building in Russia ~

The Raising of Lazarus

Soon it will be Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week./ The time of the Jewish Passover approaches as well./ We ask for days of peaceful reflection./ We pray to the Lord.

Lazarus,/ Martha and Mary were brother and sisters./ We pray for families around the world,/ mindful of those suffering the effects of war,/ famine,/ abuse,/ poverty,/ displacement or disaster./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask for the deepening of our prayer/ and for a revival where we have perhaps abandoned prayer,/ or where our prayer has become minimal,/ routine,/ selfish or tepid./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask for an increase of faith,/ hope and love where we are discouraged,/ tired,/ frustrated or feeling empty./ We pray to the Lord.

Again in our prayer/ we intercede for the countries of the world,/ praying now for the people and lands of Cambodia,/ Cameroon,/ Canada,/ Cape Verde,/ Cayman Islands,/ Central African Republic and Chad./ We pray to the Lord.

Millions live in refugee camps where there is the disruption of war./ We pray for them and for the sick,/ those in hospitals,/ nursing homes and hospices./ For the strengthening of caretakers/ and for anyone who is alone./ We pray to the Lord.

Finally/ we pray for those who have died to know the fullness of Jesus' love for them./ We pray to the Lord.

Fourteenth Station ~ Jesus is Buried in the Tomb

HERE IS AN ICON of Jesus' Mother in her Good Friday anguish. She is depicted in her sorrow as her Son is taken down from the cross and placed in the stone tomb. It's said that there is no sorrow like that of a mother sorrowing over the death of her child. The Medieval hymn asks:

                                     Who, that sorrow contemplating,

                                     On that passion meditating,

                                     Wound not share the Virgin's grief?

But this icon scene of the sorrowing Mother is also seen in newspapers  and on TV and computer screens each day. The misery so deep is all over the world as mothers watch helplessly while their children wither and die.

Perhaps Mary grieves too that her Son remains so unknown, unloved; that sin is so un-acknowledged, un-repented of and evil so justified. 

Iraqi Mother trying to revive her dead son.

Oh Jesus, give us new hearts, hearts that are eager even to know about and share the sorrows of others. Give us hearts that turn, and turn again, and yet again - to interface with others and to know that you are there.