We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Reading

Luke 23:27-31 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’  For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Meditation

Just 40 years after Jesus Passion the great Jewish holy city of Jerusalem was to be so completely destroyed by the Romans that hardly anything was left standing.  It was a desolate waste and the Jews began another terrible journey into exile.  It seems as though Jesus is prophesying all this.  But in reality, he might just be reacting to the tender empathy and compassion that these women show him.  Jesus isn’t the first person to suffer gravely at the hands of others and he won’t be the last by any means.  In this little vignette we see once again the human touch of Jesus who even in his own desperation and pain has something to say to others.  He knows that His suffering will not be the end of suffering even if He does show the way and redeem it – but every generation will have enough trouble unto the day.  He knows that these women, generous as they are in their public show of grief, will have yet more sadness and grief in their lives.  We too will have our fair share of pain and sorrow and we will need reservoirs of courage and character to get through them.  Perhaps others will share their compassion and solidarity with us when our time comes?

Question

Am I realistic about the suffering in the world?  Have I got a good understanding of how it comes about and what are the best things to bring comfort to those in need?  Am I generous with human warmth?

Our Father………..Glory be……………Hail Mary………….

Prayer

Jesus, help me to recognise every human need for warmth and love; for forgiveness and accompaniment in all of life’s experiences – good and bad and be prepared to spend time with others.  Amen

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