Fourth Station: Jesus meets his mother

Fourth Station: Jesus meets his mother

by | Mar 12, 2015 | General Interest, Reflections, Religion, Stations of The Cross

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.  Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

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“Though your message was unspoken, still the truth in silence lies …..” this is one of my favourite lines from Dana’s hymn “Our Lady of Knock”.  It brings us back to that gable wall on an August evening in 1879 and to a people gathered in wonder and fear.  A vision before them and much pain and confusion behind and all around them in the wake of famine days and forced, uncertain, emigration.  No words exchanged.  No words spoken by Mary to these people you’d imagine were in need of a word.  She didn’t tell them that they were disappointing her son.  She didn’t call them to one kind of devotion or another.  She didn’t demand response in promises of any kind.  Knock and its story, remind us though that she was “THERE” – for the people present that evening she was “HERE”.

I often think of that when looking at this fourth station.  There’s no mention of any dialogue.  You can almost imagine their eyes meeting across a largely hostile and curious crowd.  Once those eyes met and locked in on each other, there was reassurance.  “You are still my son” …..  “it matters not what they think of you or what they think you’ve done or anything else …. you are still my son”.  Presence and reassurance – maybe that’s as good as it gets.

What did she receive in return from his gaze?  A loving acknowledgement that out of all that’s going on around here, out of all this thunderous crowd, “I see you.  I need you.  I love you”.  The fourth commandment comes to mind “Honour your father and your mother”.  No accident that it comes right after the call to keep Holy the Sabbath Day.  This relationship between parent and child must also remain holy and be forever reverenced.

This Station then speaks to all that is good in that bond between parent and child, in this case, mother and son and calls us to be there/here for each other in moments of crisis and uncertainty.  It also calls us to prayer for families that have been broken or compromised in any way due to a breakdown in communication and relationship.

Oh, that today we would listen to his voice, let us harden not our hearts.

The Third Station: Jesus falls for the first time

The Third Station: Jesus falls for the first time

by | Mar 12, 2015 | General Interest, Reflections, Religion, Stations of The Cross

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.  Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Was it a pebble or a rock? Was it a push or a slap?  Was it verbal abuse or fatigue?  Was it ….. We’ll never know what led to the first fall but we can be certain it wasn’t easy.  Even burdened beneath the weight of the cross, there is a pride that keeps us going – a sort of determination not to lose face.  We’ve all done it, a stumble and then a quick look to see if anyone noticed and, depending on whether it was noticed or not, embarrassment or relief.  We might be able to pull off the stumble, maybe even to put it down to error but there’s no denying the fall.

There’s something very sad about seeing someone who has fallen on the ground – fallen on hard times, fallen behind. There’s a genuine wish, especially if they’re known to us and loved by us, that the fall hadn’t taken place.  It’s uncomfortable to watch someone on the ground.  It’s a degrading place to be and, quite often in movies and plays, the man on the ground is to be pitied since he’s at the receiving end of brutality.

Such is the case in this third station.  Jesus’ fall has come.  He doesn’t call it his “first fall” since the hope is that it might be the only one.  As we will see later on, this hope was not realised.  Jesus came to pick up the fallen so maybe it’s not without significance that he is presented here as a man, mouth under, face down on the ground.  It’s a moment of choice. Stay there or get up.  We know the choice he made.  It would not have been unreasonable were he to say, “No, I can’t go any further.  What you’ve to do, do here ….” but no, he found his feet again and continued the journey.

This seems to be a station for the fallen one – for all of us who have been caught off guard and who have lost our footing.  Don’t lose hope, feel the ground beneath you not so much as threat or enemy as launching pad to make  a fresh start.

Let’s get up ….. the ground isn’t the best place for us.

Oh, that today we would listen to his voice, let us harden not our hearts.

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