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THIRTEENTH STATION
JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS AND GIVEN TO HIS MOTHER
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to Matthew – Chapter 27.
When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and who took place, they were filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” There were also many women there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.
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Meditation
Jesus is dead. From his heart, pierced by the lance of the Roman soldier, flow blood, and water: a mysterious image of the stream of the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist by which the Church is constantly reborn from the opened heart of the Lord. Jesus’ legs are not broken like those two men crucified with him…. He is thus revealed as the true Paschal Lamb, not one of whose bones must be broken (cf. Ex 12:46). And now, at the end of his sufferings, it is clear that, for all the dismay that filled people’s hearts, for all the power of hatred and cowardice, he was never alone. There are faithful ones who remain with him. Under the cross stand Mary, his Mother, the sister of his Mother, Mary, Mary Magdalene, and the disciple whom he loved. A wealthy man, Joseph of Arimathea, appears on the scene: a rich man in able to pass through the eye of a needle, for God has given him the grace. He buries Jesus in his own empty tomb, in a garden. At Jesus’ burial the cemetery become a garden, the garden from which Adam was cast out when he abandoned the fullness of life, his Creator. The garden tomb symbolizes that the dominion of death is about to end…In this hour of immense grief, of darkness and despair, the light of hope is mysteriously present. The hidden God continues to be the God of life, ever near. Even in the night of death, the Lord continues to be our Lord and Savior. The Church of Jesus Christ, his new family, begins to take shape.
Prayer
Lord, you descended into the darkness of death. But your body is place in good hands and wrapped in a white shroud (Mt 27:59). Faith has not completely died; the sun has not completely set. How often does it appear that you are asleep? How easy it is for us to step back and say to ourselves: “God is dead.” In the hour of darkness, help us to know that you are still there. Do not abandon us when we are tempted to lose heart. Help us not to leave you alone. Give us the fidelity to withstand moments of confusion and a love ready to embrace you in your utter helplessness, like your Mother, who once more holds you to her breast. Help us, the poor and rich, simple and learned, to look beyond all our fears and prejudices, and to offer you our abilities, our hearts, and our time, and thus to prepare a garden for the resurrection. |