Lent - Day 38, Stations 7 & 8 of the Cross

The Scripture Readings for today are: Psalms 22, 141, 143; Jere 29:1, 4-13; Romans 1:13-24; John 11:1-27 & 12:1-10

The two stations of the cross that we are at are: Seventh Station: Jesus Bears the Cross

Scripture: "When the chief priests and the guards saw [Jesus] they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him." ... They cried out, "Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha."
John 19: 6, 15-17

And, the Eighth Station: Jesus is Helped by Simon the Cyrenian to Carry the Cross

Scripture: "They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross."
Mark 15: 21

The scripture reading today from Psalm 22 is worth slowly reading and meditating upon. A psalm written some 1000 years before Jesus is descriptive of the pain and the suffering of the cross.
As we enter into the end of this Lenten period we enter into the journey of Christ to the cross. It has begun as Jesus has the cross placed upon him and he struggles to carry the cross to Golgotha. Along the way Simon, forever immortalized for being selected out of the crowd of those watching to help carry the cross for him.

At this point there is no turning back. There is no place for Jesus to have spoken up and said, "It's all a mistake". He didn't, wouldn't, and because of it he suffered this ignominious shame and death...and why? For us!

A Prayer:

"Holy Father, Precious Jesus, we bow before your throne in humility and adoration. It is for our sins that you bore the cross of grief and shame. You tell us that we must pick up our cross and follow you. It is with pain and grief that you carried this cross...something we can never duplicate. So, we bow...we worship and pray. Amen."