We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
She’s some woman! Veronica, the woman with the towel – one who saw something that needed to be done and just did it. There’s a tee-shirt that appears from time to time with the slogan “JUST DO IT” … she could have worn that tee-shirt for sure.
Like Simon at the fifth station, Veronica helps Jesus and the help was crucial. It meant more than just sharing a weight, or wiping a face – it meant that there was an understanding of his message. “Do unto others as you would want done to you …” “Insofar as you offer cup of cold water to one of these brothers or sisters, you did it for me …” Yes, the help was much more than just a physical presence, it spoke to something much deeper – an awareness that what is wrong must be challenged by what is right. Evil must not be allowed triumph since, as it has truly been said, “all that’s needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing ….”
Veronica’s help differed from Simon’s insofar as it was freely and courageously given. She stepped, uninvited, from the crowd to do the right thing and, in so doing, gave a powerful witness. Some say the track of his face was left on the towel she used. I think it matters little whether that’s true or not since the mark of his “presence” was truly with her before and even more so after the moment on Calvary’s road.
Yes, she’s some woman and she calls all of us to have a heart for those less fortunate and to have courage beyond our size or ability – We may well be the needed ones in a given situation. Are we ready to step from the crowd? Are willing to make a difference?
Oh, that today we would listen to his voice, let us harden not our hearts.