Walking with the Man of Sorrows

"I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting." (Is 50:6)

Sometimes we stand by as spectators on the Via Dolarosa. Other times we participate by carrying the cross part of the way. During this Holy Week I have suffered much, putting me under the weight of the Cross, uniting me to the suffering of Jesus.

Pope John Paul II said that we are most united to Christ when we suffer. "Through His suffering on the Cross, Christ has prevailed over evil and enables us too to overcome it. Our sufferings become meaningful and precious when united with His. As God and man, Christ has taken upon Himself the sufferings of humanity, and in Him human suffering itself takes on a redemptive meaning. In this union between the human and the divine, suffering brings forth good and overcomes evil."

Not only are we called to suffer with Christ, we must "die" with Him on Good Friday. Die to self, die to the passions. But if we die with Him, we will also rise with Him on Pascha!

This was a tough Lent for me, and Holy Week isn't any easier. But the hope of new life keeps me going.