Our reading from the Gospel of John this afternoon expresses the tension that was building up between Jesus and the hierarchy of the Temple in Jerusalem. This tension would eventually lead to his arrest and to his death on the cross. Such readings about the cross that Jesus bears on his journey are critical to help us prepare for our own journey during Lent and for the crosses and sufferings that we all bear in our lives.
However, in addition to the crosses and the sufferings that bear, we should also remember the outreach of God’s love that is eloquently expressed in today’s psalm. The psalm declares, “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.” Yes, Christ has his heart broken every day in our modern world. Christ desires to be with us, he reaches out to us, yet many of us turn away. Christ has sacrificed so much out of his love for us, out of his love for all humanity. But, how often do we turn our hearts away from Jesus? Christ is not just close to the brokenhearted: Christ is the brokenhearted. That is exactly how the response in today’s psalm calls out to us. God is more than just near us in our broken-heartedness, God is continually going through that pain with us.
In the stations of the cross we pray on the Fridays during Lent Simon from Cyrene is pressed into service to help Jesus carry his cross. Simon was on his way into Jerusalem from the country. it’s certainly an unexpected detour from his plan for the day. Scripture doesn't tell us why he is appointed for the task or how he reacts. Simon serves Jesus in the hour of his greatest need. We are called to remember that, as with Simon, our acts of service—expected or not, appointed or not, eagerly shared or not—carry great weight in the kingdom of God. Through those acts of service, in the way that Simon helped carry Christ’s cross, we can help our Lord be near to the broken-hearted, we can unite our crosses with his.
In the stations of the cross we pray on the Fridays during Lent Simon from Cyrene is pressed into service to help Jesus carry his cross. Simon was on his way into Jerusalem from the country. it’s certainly an unexpected detour from his plan for the day. Scripture doesn't tell us why he is appointed for the task or how he reacts. Simon serves Jesus in the hour of his greatest need. We are called to remember that, as with Simon, our acts of service—expected or not, appointed or not, eagerly shared or not—carry great weight in the kingdom of God. Through those acts of service, in the way that Simon helped carry Christ’s cross, we can help our Lord be near to the broken-hearted, we can unite our crosses with his.
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