Jesus Meets The Women of Jerusalem

"Jesus, as you carry your cross you see a group of women along the road. As you pass by you see they are sad. You stop to spend a moment with them, to offer them some encouragement. Although you are have been abandoned by your friends and are in pain, you stop and try to help them."This is a reflection taken from a Catholic book of prayers based on the Stations Of The Cross. For people of that tradition, this Station reveals a remarkable capacity in Christ to still reach out to those in distress, even while He is suffering.

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This moment on the way to the cross brings to mind Hebrews 4:15-16. "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

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As we see Jesus labouring under the weight of the cross-bar of the instrument of his death, stumbling and falling, needing the aid of Simon, we also see Him reaching to ease the concurrent suffering of these women. Earlier in the Hebrew Epistle in Chapter Two, the empathy that Jesus cultivated for us through his own journey of temptation and pain, is unpacked this way in The Message Translation, “… he had to enter into every detail of human life … experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed.” Remarkable. Take a deep breath and let this sink in. Lean into the hope this brings. The stability it affords for mind, soul, body and spirit. Jesus, our intercessor seated at the right hand of the Father, not only advocates for us, He undergirds us. Never leaving. Never forsaking. Ever believing. Ever journeying. Ever understanding.

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"I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

of the Creator of creation.

"I arise today

Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,

Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,

Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,

Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I sit down,

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me."

(Select Portions of St. Patricks’s Breastplate)

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As we follow You Jesus, as we learn of Your Way, help us also receive and rely on Your help and strength as we journey step by step. Day by day. You are our hope. You are our anchor. “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary bending the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever.” Hebrews 6:19,20.

Art by Scott Erickson