Twelfth Station: Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own. 
(Jn 19:25-27, Douay-Rheims Version)

I wonder what Jesus was feeling when He saw His mother and the disciple He loved. I have seen the sorrow of parents when their children die before them. My late uncle had two sons who died before him. They were afflicted by muscular dystrophy. By the time they were in their mid teens, they were bedridden, and unable to sit up. With the death each son, his heart grew frailer. I could see tears welling in his eyes when he spoke of them. Jesus, who was empathic in general, would have considered the sorrow of His mother. In the midst of His physical agony, Jesus decided to do something for His mother. Just beside His mother was His disciple, the only one who had not run away to hide. He, who was faithful and trusting, would be steadfast in his responsibility to take care of her. Thus, this disciple would take Mother Mary as his own mother. Jesus uttered another of His last words on the cross: Woman, behold thy son, … Behold thy mother.

In giving Mary to the disciple, Jesus also gave the disciple to His mother. At the point of the crucifixion, it was this filial son making arrangements for the care of His mother. As a consequence, the disciple received the gift of a grace-filled and holy woman as his mother. We are called into the one family in baptism. Both we and Jesus call God Father, implying that Jesus and we are brothers and sisters of the same one Father. Similarly, we can call Mary our mother, in the spiritual sense, just as Mary is mother of Jesus, the Son of God. The gift of Mary to the beloved disciple is also Jesus’ gift of Mother Mary to all us as Mother. Therefore, the words of Jesus does not simply mean Jesus entrusting his mother to John, it also means that John is entrusted to Mary. That is why this station is entitled: Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other.

We must be careful not to make Mary more important than her son. That would not be right. Mary is made mother to care for all of us in the way that she can, not in the way that she cannot. My family started our journey as Catholics when we started going to Novena Church so many years ago. I believe that the prayers of our blessed mother were instrumental in the conversion of my family. The graces my family received so that we might be God’s children were granted by God, not by Mary. However, I do believe that Mary was involved because she had prayed for my family. Perhaps, many people approach Mary to pray for them because they find it easier to relate to a maternal figure. However, we should not wrongly believe that Mother Mary is in command. God is still in command.

In our parish, there is a popular prayer area called Mary’s Courtyard. Many people congregate there to pray the rosary every night. When the governing authorities released their advisory about closing the places of worship, I complied because I understood its importance during this pandemic. A man called me to request that I open the church so that he could pray the rosary at the courtyard everyday as he had always done. I had to turn him down. As I put down the handset to the telephone, I wondered if I should have explained to him the reasons for my decision. God has given us our intellect to understand the situation we are in. The way to lower the number of infections is to stay at home. I believe Mother Mary understands this as well. It is not where we pray that makes prayer efficacious. Not being able to pray at our favourite spot should not make us blind to the needs of all around us. Rather than pray that we can have our prayer area back, we should be praying for the people who are infected and the people who are caring for them. We should pray especially for those who are infected but are asymptomatic, because they may be still oblivious to the danger they might pose if they congregate with others and are not attentive to social distancing.

Mary is our mother and cares for our spiritual and physical well-being. She prays and she cares. Being faithful to God is not simply about our daily prayer, but being faithful in love as well. Faithfulness in love involves understanding our role in society. Thus, being faithful to God in prayer also involves being socially responsible. Perhaps this is what St. James meant when he wrote: If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.  (Jas 2:15-17, Revised Standard Version)

Eleventh Station: Jesus promises his kingdom to the repentant thief

And one of those robbers who were hanged, blasphemed him, saying: If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art condemned under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil. And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. (Lk 23:39-43, Douay-Rheims Version)

We do not know if the two criminals crucified with Jesus were partners in crime. What we do know was that both had really committed crime. The one who spoke kindly to Jesus is often called the repentant thief. While the Synoptic Gospels were quite clear that they were thieves or robbers, only St. Luke records a conversation. The other two state that the two that were crucified with him also reviled him (see Mt 27:44; Mk 15:32). St. Luke’s account showed one of the thieves being just and recognising the innocence of Jesus whilst the other spoke unkindly to Jesus. We assume that the thief that stood up for Christ was repentant because he admitted his crime and was willing to pay for it. As a consequence, he heard another of the last words of Jesus on the cross, and entered paradise with Jesus. After all, if he did not repent, could he have entered paradise?

In the sacrament of reconciliation there are four essential parts: Contrition, Confession, Satisfaction and Absolution. The thief who was kind to Jesus had definitely received Absolution for he was promised paradise by Jesus himself. He accepted the punishment he received; that would be satisfaction. He freely admitted that he had committed evil; that would be confession. He did not express any sorrow for his sin. As the word contrition means one is remorseful or sorry for sin, the question is: Was he contrite?

In the gospel, the words proclaimed by Jesus was: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel. (Mk 1:15, Revised Standard Version). The word repent has its root in the Greek metanoia, which means a change of direction. It has the idea of changing from living a life that moves away from God to a way of life that moves closer to God. The repentant thief may not have voiced sorrow for his sin but he was certainly repentant as he expressed his desire to be with Jesus and to be removed from the evil he has done. We may say that there is regret in the evil he had done.

Contrition is good, there is no doubt about it. However, we must also realise that being remorseful for one’s sin must lead one to repentance. We assume that is the case in the person who celebrates for the Sacrament of Reconciliation because one wants to come back to God. However, there might be different motives for someone who comes to confession. Sometimes it is to fulfil a requirement that he or she is absolved from serious sin to receive the Eucharist. Sometimes, it is the fear that if one dies in mortal sin, one would not be able to go to heaven. I often ask myself when I go a another priest of confession: Am I making confession for the right reason? I must confess that the motives are not always pure: fear of hell is one element that is sometimes present.

In my spiritual exercises, I have to constantly purify my intentions and motives in my relationship with God. There are time when I relationship with God serve to advance my own agenda. That is when I am like the thief that reviled Jesus. The thief obviously believed that Jesus was someone from God and had the power from God. He tried to provoke Jesus to do what he wanted: to be free from the cross. He did not end up in paradise with Jesus. The repentant thief only wanted to be with Jesus. He was probably the first to enter heaven after Jesus. My motive to be reconciled must be more and more like the repentant thief who had his sights only on Jesus, and less and less about me. I hope that I would truly hear the words of Jesus when he encountered the repentant woman who was a sinner: Your faith has saved you; go in peace. (Lk 7:50, Revised Standard Version)

Tenth Station: Jesus is crucified

And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified him there; and the robbers, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But they, dividing his garments, cast lots. And the people stood beholding, and the rulers with them derided him, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the elect of God.
(Lk 23:33-35, Douay-Rheims Version)

When the Shourd of Turin was photographed in 1898, an amazing discovery was made. The blurred image on the cloth became a clear picture of a man’s face in the negative of the photograph. This renewed researchers’ interest in the piece of linen that was thought to be the burial cloth of Jesus. In the years the followed many studies were done and it shed light on what crucifixion entailed. For example, the shroud accurately showed that the nail through the hands was positioned close to the wrist. Pictures of the crucifixion often show the nails nailed through the palms of the hand. If the nails were pierced through the palms, the weight of the body would have caused the hands to be torn because the muscles and ligaments would not have been able to hold a man’s weight. Instead, the wrist was able to bear it. Research of the shroud helped us to come to a greater understanding of the cruelty of crucifixion as a form of execution.

Jesus must have suffered tremendously during the crucifixion. Jesus would have bled slowly. His breathing would have been laboured due to the positioning of his arms. The pain he would have endured to push against the nails on his feet to ease the difficulty of breathing. The physical pain would have been aggravated by the absence of most of His disciples. His dignity as a human being would be nonexistent because he was totally naked. As if to make fun of him. the soldiers gambled with his last pieces of clothing. He was derided by passers-by. His suffering was not just physical but also emotional and social.

Jesus was obedient to the Father. St. Paul describes this beautifully: he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.(Phil 2:8, Revised Standard Version) In his obedience Jesus was willing to give his life. He did it so that he could become the example for all who are called to be children of God. We are called to be children of God. Are we willing to be humble, and so become as obedient as Jesus was?

Even though Jesus was nailed fast to the cross, he was not a prisoner. He was free; free to be who he was: the obedient Son of God. We sometimes give in to fear and thus enslave ourselves. For example, when we give in to our fear of not being acknowledged, we enslave ourselves to the esteem of men. When that happens, the pursuit of other’s esteem becomes a burden and we become miserable. Initially, we might be able to convince ourselves using the saying no pain, no gain. However, our hearts will become heavy with worry and anxiety.

The paradox of Jesus crucified was that although he was in agony,.he was not worried or anxious. He was free. His mind was clear. That was why he was able to utter his seven last words on the cross, the first of which is “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Lk 23:34, Revised Standard Version) Jesus was free from anger and resentment. He was free enough to forgive all those who had caused him the agony he was going through. When I keep grudges, I am not free to forgive. This is because I am enslaved to my anger and my hurt feelings. I may use many different reasons to keep my anger and hurt feelings. I say that I want justice; I say I need satisfaction; I say I do not want to be hurt again. These reasons do not change the fact that I am enslaved. When enslaved thus, I suffer miserably. By letting go of my anger and hurt feelings, I free myself to receive the healing of God. By receiving the grace of being healed, I will have the ability to forgive others. Then the Lord’s Prayer I pray every day would be true: Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Ninth Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

And there followed him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them, said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me; but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For behold, the days shall come, wherein they will say: Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the paps that have not given suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us; and to the hills: Cover us. For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?(Lk 23:27-31, Douay-Rheims Version)

There are many studies made about women’s intuition. Many of us have experienced how women are able to tell if their significant other is lying or telling the truth. Scientific studies have shown that women are somehow better than men in reading emotions and situations. How they are doing it? No one actually knows. There are many theories, from culture to genetics, that try to explain the phenomenon, but none are really conclusive. Anyway, women tend to know things without consciously reasoning it out. The same can be said for the women who were weeping for Jesus. They knew He was authentic, when the male-only Sanhedrin doubted and sought to destroy Him.

Instead of thanking them for caring for him, Jesus makes a strange remark: weep for yourselves, and for your children (Lk 23:28, Douay-Rheims Version). The reason he gives the women for this strange remark is that there will come a time when people will be so tormented that they wish they did not exist. Jesus knows why he is suffering His passion. In the future, many people will not know why they are being tormented. In the words of Jesus, He gives us a clue to the reason for the torment. The children of the women of Jerusalem would forget their origins. They would forget God their creator. Jesus knew where He came from although the Jews did not (see John 7:14). The people who had forgotten who God was would suffer torment.

There are many who call themselves Christian but have a flawed image of God. God as Father is more a vending machine, doling out gifts that are asked for. This is a flawed image of God. God is not in control here but the human being. It is not the human being living to what God expects but that God does what the human being expects in this flawed image. Thus, there is the torment of one who feels that God has abandoned them when things do not turn out as expected. It is also easy for a person with such an image of God to shift their focus from the creator God to created objects. The pandemic that we are facing now has caused many Catholic Churches to cease the public celebrations during Holy Week that form the most important part of the Catholic Liturgical Calendar. I have heard of irate people who cannot understand why there are no blessed palms. They question why they cannot be allowed to “kiss the cross”. Could not having palms or the public veneration of the cross be more important than the gratitude of our hearts for a God that loves us? The Liturgy are memorials. The Liturgy celebrate significant events in the history of humanity with regard to God and his promises. These memorials point us to God. When the importance moves from God to the things that aid us to remember God’s great acts, we forget, to some extent, the God who created us and continues to love us. We complain of the lack of what we have always had and expect to have, and miss the point totally. Like the “they” that Jesus refers to in his words to the women of Jerusalem, we might end up asking for mountains to fall on us.

Palms, the baptismal water, the wood of the cross and the paschal candle are all important items during Holy Week. Yet we must not forget the God who makes these created things important. It is He who gives meaning to them during this time of the year. The most impactful memory of 2020 in the world would most probably be “COVID-19.” In our life in Christ, let 2020 be the year when we, as Catholics, return to that which is more fundamental: the love of God who continues to love us despite not having palms, not being able to “kiss the cross” and not being able to witness the lighting of the paschal candle. Let us return to the memory of the great saving event of God in Jesus Christ at its most basic. This is expressed in the words of Jesus is the Gospel of St. John, which incidentally does not contain any mention of palms or the cross: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Jn 3:16, Revised Standard Version)

Eighth Station: Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyrene to carry his cross

… and they led him out to crucify him. And they forced one Simon a Cyrenian who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and of Rufus, to take up his cross.
(Mk 15:20b-21, Douay-Rheims Version)

Many texts of the traditional stations speak of how privileged Simon of Cyrene was to have helped Jesus carry the cross. I do wonder if Simon really felt privileged when the cross was thrust upon him by the Roman soldiers. He probably resented the Roman soldiers for ordering him to do so. He might even have resented Jesus as well but it is more likely that he resented his own misfortune to be walking at the wrong place at the wrong time. Was he aware of the drama that had unfolded at the praetorium that morning? Who was Simon anyway?

The name Simon is used by both Greeks and Jews. From history, we know that Cyrene was a North African city in the Roman Empire. There was a large Jewish community there at the time of Jesus. The Roman Catholic tradition considers Simon a Jew although there is real historical proof. What we do know is that St. Mark names his sons in his Gospel, indicating that they were known to the Christian community. With respect to Simon’s role, St. Matthew’s account is similar to St. Mark. St. Luke mentions that Simon walks behind Jesus while St. John does not mention Simon at all. Using the Jerusalem Bible translation, we get a kind of harmony:

So in the end Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. Then they took charge of Jesus, and carrying his own cross he went out of the city (Jn 19:16-17) …On their way out, they came across a man from Cyrene, Simon by name (Mt 27:32) … father of of Alexander and Rufus (Mk 15:21) … who was coming in from the country, and made him shoulder the cross and carry it behind Jesus. (Lk 23;26)

As we can read, Jesus carried his cross part of the way out of the city and Simon was made to carry the cross behind Jesus. Simon had to bear Jesus’ burden because the Romans were afraid that Jesus might not survive the walk to the execution site. The soldiers would have to explain themselves if Jesus died from exhaustion rather than from being nailed to the cross. Thus, Simon was forced to carry the cross so that Jesus might be crucified properly. I do not think that the soldiers would be grateful to Simon. He probably got the same treatment as anyone carrying a cross to be executed. He would be shouted at, pushed and shoved to get going when he slowed down. He could not argue lest he suffered punishment for resisting the soldiers. Simon was probably very vexed. He was minding his own business and did not do anything wrong to anyone. Why would the soldiers force him to carry the cross? He must have been very frustrated.

Simon of Cyrene did not know at that time that he was involved in Jesus’ fulfilment of His Father’s will. Simon was probably not a necessary part of Jesus’ redemptive mission but God had planned that he became part of it nevertheless. It does not really matter whether he was initially resentful or upset on being chosen by the soldiers to carry Jesus’ cross. What is significant was that Simon was chosen to be part of the event that is central to the saving plan of God.

There are times when we cannot understand why something happens. This COVID-19 pandemic is just one of those times. We cannot understand why God would allow it to be so serious that Catholics are not able to worship like they normally did. The advisory from the government was that all places of worship were to be closed to the public. That would mean that Catholics would not be able to come into the Church grounds to pray. I can empathise with those who feel so cut off and do not understand why God could allow this thing to happen. Yet I hope that like Simon of Cyrene, I might nevertheless comply with the advisory and come to see the greater significance which God has for allowing this situation. As St. Paul would write, Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known. (1 Cor 13:12, Jerusalem Bible)

Seventh Station: Jesus takes up his cross

Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Gol'gotha.
(Jn 19:14-17, Jerusalem Bible)

It is only in the Gospel of St. John that Jesus is said to carry his own cross. The other Gospels do not say that. They recount that Simon of Cyrene was asked to carry the cross of Jesus. In the traditional stations of the cross, Simon comes in only after Jesus suffers his first fall. The Gospels do not recount any fall but it would not be surprising if Jesus did fall. St. John’s Gospel reveals to us a very sad irony: Pilate, the non-Jew admits that Jesus is king but the Jews reject that idea, admitting Pilate’s king as their king.

Both St. Matthew and St. Mark indicate that the soldiers were the ones who led Jesus to the site of his execution. St. John and St. Luke do not indicate the actual people who led Jesus. Rather the impression one gets is that the Jews were the ones who led Jesus to Golgotha. The significance of St. John’s narrative should be clear: the Jews, who had rejected their own king, forces Him to carry the instrument of His death and leads Him to the place of execution. St. John writes a the beginning of his gospel: He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. (Jn 1:11, Revised Standard Version)

God is love. Whatever God wills of us has its beginning and end in love. When I admit God as my God, I admit that I shall do what He wills because His will is good for me. When I sin, I reject this notion. I do not go according to God’s will because I think I know better. In fact, when I act in sin, I am actually rejecting God as my God; I am rejecting love.

When Jesus took up His cross in his walk to Calvary, he did so for love of all humanity. (NB: Calvary is derived from the Greek word for skull) He denied Himself and did what was necessary for us. In his predictions of his passion, he says: “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” And he said to all, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it.” (Lk 9:22-24, Revised Standard Version) We can see that when we imitate him, we take up our cross for the purpose of losing our lives for His sake. Only then will we gain the life Jesus wishes to give us: eternal life.

When I call Jesus Master and Lord, I am admitting that He is God. I am proclaiming that I will follow Him. That would include the carrying of my cross. When someone says that a particular suffering is a cross they must bear, it impresses me that the person sees the cross as something negative. Did Jesus consider his cross as the suffering he went through? True, the cross was the source of suffering for Jesus, but was it the suffering itself? The cross was the means by which He obeyed the Father in love. Physically, the cross caused him great suffering. I believe that the cross was an instrument of blessing for Jesus. The suffering he bore was a consequence of accepting the cross as the means of loving obedience. If I were to follow Jesus and carry my cross, I cannot view the cross as a necessarily evil that I must bear. Rather, I must view the cross as the means of obeying the Father. The consequence of bearing the cross might include suffering, but the cross itself is not the suffering. It is a tool for me to express my relationship with God the Father. Self-denial brings about suffering to a sinful self, but is itself an instrument for greater holiness. This sentiment is captured in the following verse of the hymn O Mighty Cross, Love Lifted High by David Baroni and John Chisum:

O Mighty Cross, O Christ, so pure,
Love held Him there, such shame endured;
His sacrifice on Calvary
Has made the mighty cross
a tree of life to me

Sixth Station: Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns

Then therefore, Pilate took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platting a crown of thorns, put it upon his head; and they put on him a purple garment. And they came to him, and said: Hail, king of the Jews; and they gave him blows.
(Jn 19:1-3, Douay-Rheims Version)

The Gospels do not say much about scourging. The Gospels only say that Jesus was scourged. There are no details. Was it as cruel as that depicted in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ? Objectively, we cannot say. There are records of the way Romans scourged their prisoners. Yet they are so varied that we cannot simply state that Jesus had the most severe of the scourging. However, scourging is not the same as receiving the rotan when I was a child. Scourging was definitely excruciatingly painful and it was definitely injurious. It was a punishment dealt to criminals. Jesus was not a criminal. Pilate did not find any fault in Jesus and yet he ordered Jesus to be scourged. Furthermore, the soldiers seemed to have enjoyed torturing their prisoners. They crowned Jesus with thorns to mock him. Even if a prisoner deserved his punishment, was the mocking a part of the punishment?

In this station, my meditation will neither be on how terrible the scourging was, nor how painful the crown of thorns was. Instead, my meditation brought me to a single point: justice.

Pilate had Jesus scourged to placate the Jewish authorities who had also riled up the crowd. Instead of using the normal Roman way of quelling an unruly but unarmed crowd, Pilate had a man whom he had declared innocent scourged. I am just as guilty the soldiers when I did not speak up for a person whom I knew did not deserve a reprimand.

The Romans had a reputation for liking violence. It can be deduced from the way the gladiatorial games were conducted in the Colosseum. In the case of Jesus, the soldiers did not think anything of mocking Jesus. I suspect that many just joined “for fun.” They were the typical bullies. Bullies do not serve justice, they serve themselves. Those with authority can often end up as bullies. I can sense this keenly because I am given authority as a parish priest. It would be easy for me to use my authority to thumb people down and keep them down. When this happens for a selfish reason, I am unjust. There are times when I might need to assert my authority to stop a person from harming others. I know that I must consider the common good. If I were to assert my authority just to keep things easy for me, it would be unjust.

In the world today, there are many who resent authority and are anti-institutional. They consider authority to be an illusion and constantly mock legitimate authority. In one extreme, they claim that they would rather have exercise of personal responsibility than enforced order through an external authority. This ideal would only work if there were neither sin nor selfishness in the world. Let us consider the present situation in Singapore. We are asked to exercise social responsibility and I have personally experienced those who do not think much about social distancing. They flout the guidelines when the authorities are not around. When reminded by their peers, they throw daggers with their eyes.

The scourging of Jesus and the crowning of thorns remind us that there is a lack of love of neighbour in Pilate and the soldiers. It shows us how much Jesus was willing to go through for love of all humanity. We must learn from Jesus and not to be like Pilate and the soldiers. I am reminded of what St. John wrote: We love, because he first loved us. If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 Jn 4:19-20, Revised Standard Version)