GARDEN WAY OF THE CROSS: FOURTH STATION

IV. Jesus meets His mother.

Plant: Our Lady’s Mantle; Alchemical Erythropoda & Mollis.

‘Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this

child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign

that is spoken against and a sword will pierce through your own

soul also, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.’ Luke

2:34-35

The moment of encounter between Jesus and Mary is not

recorded. It is a moment of profound silence amid the violence

they are experiencing. There are no words for this type of

encounter.

This last journey is a mirror of his infancy journey, where they had

to flee a violent and bloody persecution. As refugees, the Holy

Family asks us a question in our response to the current

worldwide movement of the vulnerable and dispossessed.

All mothers journey with their child’s suffering through temporary

illness or difficulties. For some they spend a lifetime journeying

alongside their child who has a life limiting disease or condition.

To lose a child is one of the greatest sufferings.

For many mothers such loss is from death in the womb, infancy or

even late adulthood, for others it is a result of war or natural

disaster. A humanitarian aid worker tells about a mother who’s son

was kidnapped to become a child soldier. Every year, around the

boy’s birthday, the aid worker makes contact to check how she is

and let her know that they haven’t ended their search. Every night,she says, she unlocks the door of their home, in case he returns

and has lost his key. He disappeared more than 30 years ago.

But what of the mother who forgets her child? The suffering of

women due to poverty, abuse, addiction or mental illness may

leave them unable to journey with their child. Yet, God will never

forget any of his children ‘Can a woman forget her sucking child,

that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?

Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have

graven you on the palms of my hands;’ Isaiah 49:15-16.

Over the centuries Mary has been honoured with hundreds of

titles and epithets; Queen of Heaven, Throne of Wisdom, Star of

the Sea, Immaculate Conception, Theotokos (God-bearer), Queen

of Angels – but of all titles, the highest, given by Jesus himself, is

simply, Mother.

On the cross, St John describes one of the final acts of Jesus;

‘… standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his

mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved

standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that

hour the disciple took her to his own home.’ John 19:26-27

JP & LP

V. Simon of Cyrene

III. Jesus falls the first time.

Plant: Partridge foot, Luetkea Pectinata

‘It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ – Hebrews 10:31

Though Jesus falls to the ground seemingly losing control of his body, he is never outside the hands of His Father. We too, when we are sick, in our infirmity, sometimes can feel as though we are losing control of our bodies. We become more aware with the passing of time that we are in the hands of the living God, and it can feel dreadful, like a judgement.

Through the weakness he united to himself Jesus will shame the proud and the strong. He will show suffering is not meaningless but moves people to mercy and compassion; humility and littleness are beautiful in the sight of God. This humiliation Jesus willingly endures that we might know physical frailty does not mean we are forsaken by God. ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care and even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows’ (Matt 10:29-31).

We might find the words of the psalm that Jesus utters on the cross on our lips when we are sick: ‘My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?’. Our own frailty can be overwhelming. We can feel, or be made to feel, useless or unimportant. This psalm which Jesus places on his own lips, of a just man unjustly condemned to death, ends in trust that vindication will come from God. Jesus will rise again and be vindicated. We too by humility, with faith, and faithfulness through taking up our Cross and following Jesus; we will be vindicated on the day of the resurrection.

TM

II.  Jesus takes up His Cross. 

Plant: The Lenten Rose; Helleborus X Hybridus (Orientalis)

‘And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.” Mark 14:33-36

Jesus is given the wood of the cross. This is the beginning of the events that had Jesus on his knees and pleading the night before, in the garden of Gethsemane; asking that, if possible, this should pass him by; but ultimately, ‘not my will but yours.’ 

Stripped, beaten, mocked, head pierced and tortured, he is then given the cold timber that will be the frame and means of his death. He chose this and embraced the cold hard consequences of his loving choice. Many suffer in similar ways, but they neither choose the violence nor welcome the injustice and torment forced on them. Christ embraces his cross in solidarity with all who suffer, and through it transforms suffering and death itself. Walking the stations of the cross provides us an opportunity to experience Jesus as the embodiment of the crucified classes of people in the world. “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

Hidden for the most part, are individuals who make loving, self-emptying choices. I knew a girl who cared for her unwell mother and two younger siblings. Every day she would rise, feed and clothe her brother and sister and see to her mum’s medications and other needs. She would then drop her siblings off to primary school and make her way to secondary school. She was 14. In the UK 1 in 10 young people are carers. Far from being passive, their acceptance flows from a place of deeply loving generosity and wide-eyed, open-hearted choice.

Saint Francis of Assisi in his meditations of this station says firstly, Jesus willingly accepted His Cross. Second, He lovingly embraced it. Third, He tenderly kissed it. Fourth, He joyfully carried it. Like his disciples, it might be difficult for us to accept that Jesus is a Messiah who must suffer and die. But to be a disciple in the first place, Jesus made it clear that we have to go on the same journey with our own cross and choose a new life of self-emptying love.

‘Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spat upon him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.’ Matthew 27:27-31

LP