The Way of the Cross - 12th Station

JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

John 19:28-34
After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: ‘I Thirst’. A jar full of sour wine stood there; so putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick, they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the wine he said, ‘It is fulfilled’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.

It was the Day of Preparation, and to avoid the bodies remaining on the cross during the Sabbath – since that Sabbath was a day of special solemnity – the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then the other. When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.

John 7: 37-38
Jesus stood and cried out: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As Scripture says: ‘From his heart shall flow streams of living water’.”


As he hangs there suspended between heaven and earth all of human sin flows to him. His open arms are an invitation to human wickedness and a sign of his vulnerability. And the sin which has perverted the human heart will flow ferociously out against him. All the depravity which the human heart is capable of will flow into his heart. The river of sin seems endless, how is it possible that one man could embrace it all. But that river of sin flows into the endless ocean of merciful love that has gathered in his Divine Heart. Sin will exhaust itself as it rages against love. The more it raises its voice to scream ‘no’ the more the Saviour will quietly repeat his ‘yes’. And as the fresh water of a river flowing into the sea becomes lost in the salty deeps so the foulness of our most vile sins disappears when it is conquered by infinite love. Our sins fall upon him and his blood falls upon us. The full measure of our sins draws forth the full measure of his life’s-blood. From our wounds flow waves of death and destruction - the foul-smelling rot of sin. From his wounds flow waves of the cleansing Blood of the Lamb without blemish, the medicinal water that flows from the tree of life, from the side of the temple, which is his body; the sweet-smelling ‘yes’ offered to the Father from a truly human heart – the Divine Heart of his Son.

With each breath he takes the stench of sin and death fill his soul so that the author of life itself, moves ever closer to death. And when the last wave of the last sin ever to be committed breaks upon the shore of his suffering and he breathes deeply the stench of that sin too, he lowers his head in death, breathing out the Holy Spirit over those raging waters. “Quiet now, be still.”

Lord, by your wounds we are healed, and so we press our open wounds to yours that we may be healed.

The Way of the Cross - 10th Station

JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS

Genesis 3: 21-24
The Lord God made tunics of skins for the man and his wife and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, ‘Now that the man has become like one of us in knowing good from evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick from the tree of life too, and eat and live forever.’ So the Lord God expelled him from the Garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he had been taken. He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden he posted the great winged creatures and the fiery flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Psalm 22.19
They divide My garments among them, and they cast lots for my clothes.


The Lord finally arrives at the spot of his crucifixion. And now he is stripped of his garments in front of everyone. Naked he stands before the eyes of the world. His body is torn and the onlookers can see the extent of the damage that has been inflicted on him so far.

Adam stood naked too; when he had sinned. God took pity on Adam and Eve and clothed them to ease their sense of shame. Here Christ stands sholder to shoulder with Adam. The New Adam has entered into solidarity with the Old Adam. Adam stood despoiled of the garments of grace; his sin had stripped him of it. His exterior nudity points to an interior despoiling of the soul. Jesus who is the source of all grace, allows himself to stand exposed, stripped of his dignity and allows himself to be taken as yet another sinful son of Adam who has followed the path of his father, the path of disobedience and sin. But he is the innocent one, it is not his own sin that has left him exposed to sin’s horrible consequences, but the sins of the whole world which are placed on his shoulders. “For our sake he made the sinless one a victim of sin, so that in him we might become the uprightness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).

God clothes Adam before expelling him from the Garden as a sign that one day he will once again clothe him in the robes of righteousness before his re-entry into Paradise. To do this God allows himself to be stripped; as the final movement of that stripping away which began with the Incarnation, when he stripped himself of his glory, and became one of us, like us in all things but sin. And so great was that self-emptying, that stripping away, that he now stands on the verge of death, offering to strip himself of life itself in order to give us eternal life.

Lord we ask you to clothe those who have been despoiled of the baptismal robe of righteousness through their sins. Bring many to the sacrament of confession so that they may be restored to the state of grace and the divine friendship which is your will.

Examination of Conscience

“The examination of conscience is one of the most decisive moments in a person's life. It places each individual before the truth of his or her own life. Thus, we discover the distance that separates our deeds from the ideal that we had set for ourselves.” Pope John Paul II

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An examination of conscience in the form of a list of ways in which we sin and fail to live up to our obligations can be of great help to us before confession. Going through it can help us to be honest with ourselves and honest with God. This Examination of Conscience may help in preparation for a good confession.

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While it is quite thorough, there may be other things that are not explicitly mentioned in it. Before going through it, you should ask the light of the Holy Spirit to help you to be honest and to draw your attention to what applies to you. Some, if not many, of the things listed might not apply to you; but if something in particular touches your conscience then perhaps the Lord is telling you to bring that to confession.
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In making an examination of conscience we must never lose sight of the fact that God is infinite Mercy and Love. The main reason we remember our sins is so that we can turn to him and receive his forgiveness.

· Has God got the number one place in my life?
· Do I pray often and every day?
· Do I misuse the Holy Name of Jesus?
· Do I really believe that my whole life is under God’s protecting hand?
· Am I thankful for the good that is in my life?
· Am I superstitious?
· Have I dabbled in occult/psychic practices (satanic rituals, witchcraft, seances, ouija board, mediums, fortune-telling etc.)?
· Do I use foul language?
· Do I read the Sacred Scriptures? Ignorance of Scriptures is Ignorance of Christ!
· Do I attend Mass on Sundays?
· Do I attend Mass on Holy Days of Obligation?
· Do I habitually come late to Mass or leave early?
· How do I keep the Lord’s day holy?
· Have I lied or purposely withheld serious sins during a previous confession?
· Do I respect every member of my family?
· Do I hold hatred or resentment in my heart against someone?
· Do I drink too much?
· Do I take drugs?
· Do I show respect for life?
· Am I pro-life?
· Have I had an Abortion?
· Have I encourage or facilitated an Abortion?
· Am I pure of heart?
· Do I allow my eyes to wander in lustfulness?
· Do I have unhealthy/sinful relationships?
· Do I accept and live by the truth that sex is for Marriage?
· Do I guard with care and live chastely the holy gift of my sexuality?
· Do I read or look at immoral materials?
· Do I use pornography?
· Have I masturbated?
· Have I committed impure actions with others?

Have I respected the bodily integrity of others?
· Have I engaged in pre-marital sex?
· Have I engaged in homosexual acts?
· Am I faithful to my commitments and obligations?
· Am I a patient person?
· Am I able to disagree without being disagreeable?
· Do I waste money?
· Am I too materialistic?
· Does my ambition have a negative effect on others?
· Am I wasteful with my talents?
· Do I do a fair day’s work?
· Do I pay a fair wage?
· Have I cheated anyone?
· Have I stolen anything?
· Have I taken the good name of another?
· Have I spread gossip?
· Is there someone I need to forgive?
· Is there someone I need to ask forgiveness from?
· Do I spread rumours?
· Have I broken the confidence of another?
· Have I told lies?
· How have I dealt with my anger?
· Do my words build people up or do they tear people down?
· Do I hold bitterness?
· Have I tried to deepen my understanding of the Catholic faith?
· Have I made efforts to understand the Mass?
· Have I made efforts to understand the sacraments?
· Have I received a sacrament, especially the Eucharist, unworthily while in a state of mortal sin?
· Do I try to fast or practice some form of penance?
· Do I pray with my family?
· Do I pray for my family?
· Do I take my spiritual life seriously?
· Do I give to charity?
· Am I willing to speak about Jesus to others?
· Does my life help others to come to know Christ?
· Have I given bad example to others?
· Am I a helpful neighbour?
· Do I enrich my parish?
· Do I encourage others to live the Christian life?
· Do I make sacrifices for the benefit of others?
· Have I ignored someone who needed my attention?
· Am I a sincere person?
· Am I a violent person?
· Do I take other people for granted?
· Am I a person of prayer?
· Do I care properly for my own body?
· Do I care excessively for my body?
· Am I vain?
· Do I mock anyone?
· Do I bully anyone?
· Have I encouraged others to sin?
· Am I a good friend?
· Am I a law-abiding citizen?
· Have I littered?
· Do I always drive carefully and within the speed limits?
· Have I driven under the influence of alcohol or drugs?


For Spouses and Parents the following questions might be useful:

· Have I always been faithful to my spouse?
· Do I make an effort to always show love and consideration to my spouse?
· Do I take my spouse for granted?
· Do I have unrealistic expectations of my spouse?
· Do I thank God every day for the gift that is my spouse?
· Do I pray for and with my spouse?
· Am I faithful to all my marriage vows?
· Do I use contraception?
· Have I allowed myself to be sterilised?
· Have I ever availed of IVF (In-vitro fertilisation)?
· Am I conscientious in my duties as a Father/Mother towards my children?
· Do I thank God for the gift of children?
· Do I teach my children about God and the Catholic Faith?
· Do I pray for and with my children?
· Do I encourage them to practice their faith?
· Is my home a place of prayer?
· Do I protect my children from bad influences upon them?
· Do I show my children enough love?
· Am I too strict or too lenient with my children?
· Do I take enough interest and make an effort with regard to my children’s education?

"The message that must be transmitted: what counts most is to make people understand that in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, whatever the sin committed, if it is humbly recognized and the person involved turns with trust to the priest-confessor, he or she never fails to experience the soothing joy of God's forgiveness… It is not sin which is at the heart of the sacramental celebration but rather God's mercy, which is infinitely greater than any guilt of ours." Pope Benedict XVI, 2008 Message to Confessors of the Apostolic Penitentiary

Pope John Paul II on the Sacrament of Reconciliation

General Audience, 22nd February 1984

Often, in the experience of the faithful, it is precisely the obligation to present themselves before the minister of mercy which constitutes a particular difficulty for them. Why, they object, reveal to a man like myself my most intimate circumstances and also my most secret faults? Why, they also object, can I not address God or Christ directly instead of going through the mediation of a man in order to receive the forgiveness of sins?

These and similar questions can seem quite plausible because of the effort which the Sacrament of Penance always asks of us… It is true: the man who absolves is a brother who must also confess in his turn, since, despite his obligation to grow in personal holiness, he remains subject to the limitations of human frailty. The man who absolves, however, does not offer the forgiveness of sins in the name of his own holiness… When he raises his hand in blessing and pronounces the words of absolution, he acts ‘in persona Christi’ – in the person of Christ – not simply as Christ’s representative, but also and above all as a human instrument in which the Lord Jesus – God-with-us - is present and acts.


Homily during Mass at the Phoenix Park, Dublin, September 29th, 1979

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we are all invited to meet Christ personally and to do so frequently. This encounter with Jesus is so very important that I wrote in my first Encyclical Letter these words: "In faithfully observing the centuries-old practice of the Sacrament of Penance - the practice of individual confession with a personal act of sorrow and the intention to amend and make satisfaction - the Church is therefore defending the human soul's individual right : man's right to a more personal encounter with the crucified forgiving Christ, with Christ saying, through the minister of the sacrament of Reconciliation : 'Your sins are forgiven' ; 'Go, and do not sin again'". Because of Christ's love and mercy, there is no sin that is too great to be forgiven; there is no sinner who will be rejected. Every person who repents will be received by Jesus Christ with forgiveness and immense love.


Homily, 16th March 1980

The confession boxes of the world in which people bring their sins to light do not proclaim the severity of God, but above all they speak of his merciful goodness. And those who approach the confessional, sometimes after many years and with the weight of serious sins, find the longed-for relief when they go from there; they find the joy and serenity of conscience, which they can find nowhere else but in confession. No-one but God has the power to free us from our sins. And the man who receives such a remission of sin, receives the grace of a new life of the Spirit, which God alone can give him from his infinite goodness.

On the Redemptive Power of Jesus Christ

More great stuff from the writings of Blessed Columba Marmion; this time on the saving power of Christ:

Sin is an insult given to God, an insult that has to be expiated. Man, being simply a creature, is by himself incapable of paying off properly the debt contracted against the Divine Majesty by an offence, the malice of which is infinite. A satisfaction, to be adequate, must be offered by someone of the same dignity as the one offended. The gravity of an insult is in proportion to the dignity of the one offended; the same insult given to a prince is more serious because of his rank than if it had been given to a peasant***… Now, between us and God there is an infinite gap… You know what God’s answer has been… He decreed that the ransom of humanity would only be brought about by the satisfaction equal to the rights of his infinite justice, and that this satisfaction would be given by the bloody sacrifice of a victim who would substitute himself freely, voluntarily, for sinful mankind. Who would this Saviour be?...

… God sent the promised Saviour, the Saviour who was to ransom creation, destroy sin and reconcile mankind with God. Who was it who would come? It was the Son of God made man… This solution is a wonderful one. ‘The humanity of Christ,’ says St. Gregory, ‘permitted him to die and to satisfy for men; his divinity gave him the power to restore us to the grace that sanctifies.’ Death had come from a human nature soiled by sin. From a human nature united to one who is God, would spring forth the source of grace and of life.

***‘Sin committed against God has an infinite quality because of the infinity of the Divine Majesty, for an offence is greater to the extent that the one transgressed against is greater’. St. Thomas Aquinas – ST III, q.1

The Way of the Cross - 3rd Station

Jesus Falls The First Time

Hebrews 4: 15-16
For the High Priest we have is not incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us, but has been put to the test in exactly the same way as ourselves, apart from sin.

Hebrews 12:11-12
Of course, any discipline is at the time a matter of grief, not joy; but later, in those who have undergone it, it bears fruit in peace and uprightness. So steady all weary hands and trembling knees and make your crooked paths straight; then the injured limb will not be maimed.

The initial enthusiasm with which Christ resolutely took up the cross is now being sorely tested. The weight of the cross, the blood he has lost, the horrific treatment of his body up to now, have the combined effect of making the going one immense struggle. Did he trip on a stone, did his legs simply fold beneath him, or was it a sudden swoon from loss of blood. Any and all of these might be involved, and the Lord falls on his face, his holy face already so bruised is buried in the dust and rocks of the Via Crucis. And the heavy cross comes crashing down on him, on his head, and buries that terrible crown of thorns ever deeper into his sacred head. He gets to his feet again. On he moves to Calvary.

Lord this is your first fall. Headlong you plunge into the dust, a symbol of mankind who from the dawn of creation rushed headlong in disobedience back into the dust from which we are made. Dust we are and unto dust we shall return, though we were made in your image and likeness. This fall is also a symbol of your Incarnation, lowering yourself to be like us in all things, but sin. But as you raise yourself with great effort from that dust, even here we see the seeds of resurrection beginning to sprout. In this scene you speak to our hearts and say: Arise, Oh Man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. (Office of Readings – Holy Saturday).

Lord you desire to give us life to the full, raise us out of dead ways and dead works, raise us out of the dust of sin, let us dust ourselves off, turn with confident resolution towards you and continue walking. Give us strength Lord to walk that journey of faith. We are weak and so we do not expect that we will never fall again. But Lord, when we fall give us the faith and hope to always rise again, relying on your merciful love, give us the strength to continue on. Lord give this day the gift of confidence to all those who believe in your name and may many rise again through the sacrament of penance; your image restored to them, and the dust of sin wiped away.

The Cross and the Sins of the World

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“I, when I am lifted up will draw all men to myself.”

With three powerful blows the first nail tears through Christ’s flesh and lodges itself in the wood of the Cross. Then follows the second, then the third; each with ruthless efficiency. The executioners couldn’t see that this was a defining moment for mankind – deicide, the murder of God. Had they known the importance of what they were doing at that moment then they would have known that such a moment demanded solemnity, time, ritual and they would have carried out each movement in this tragic turn of events with greater attention, with greater care allowing each atrocious wound the time and space to speak for itself. But they are completely ignorant of all this – they do not know what they are doing. Here is a criminal to be disposed of in the usual way. What they must do they do quickly and in a moment the Saviour of the world is lifted up and the full horror of a world gone mad is displayed for all to see.

The first wave of human sin is passed, but there comes another and yet another in a relentless onslaught crashing on the shores of that Divine Heart. Each wave foams with the sins of every human being of every generation. Every injustice, every lust, every infidelity, every angry word, every violent action, every gun fired, every bomb dropped, every life taken, every conceivable evil that ever was or will be flood his soul. Each presents itself to the eyes of Christ as one huge tsunami following another – a tidal wave of rejection that roars ‘no’ to the Father. Hanging on the cross the sins of the world wash over him, invade him and cause him the most unbearable suffering. He has asked for this, he has desired that it be this way because this is his Father’s will. And as each sin falls upon his head and his grief increases he utters no word of condemnation, no judgement. Silently he bears it all. No sin will every force him to say ‘enough – I will have no more, away with this cross!’

Amid all these thunderous waves there are small waves too. These waves do not crash violently over him, but timidly, humbly exhausting themselves at his feet. These are the waves of the Magdalenes of this world whose sins are not hurled at the Saviour, rather they are laid at the foot of his cross. They may be waves of sin – perhaps waves of the greatest possible sins, but they are waves which foam with repentance. These sins do cause him to suffer but as bitter as they are for him to swallow they leave a sweet taste as he gazes upon another soul saved for the Kingdom. While so many sinners would use their sins to crucify him – these sinners would have them crucified with him.

As he hangs there suspended between heaven and earth all of human sin flows to him. His open arms are an invitation to human wickedness and a sign of his vulnerability. And the sin which has perverted the human heart will flow ferociously out against him. All the depravity which the human heart is capable of will flow into his heart. The river of sin seems endless, how is it possible that one man could embrace it all. But that river of sin flows into the endless ocean of merciful love that has gathered in his Divine Heart. Sin will exhaust itself as it rages against love. The more it raises its voice to scream ‘no’ the more the Saviour will quietly repeat his ‘yes’. And as the fresh water of a river flowing into the sea becomes lost in the salty deeps so the foulness of our most vile sins disappears when it is conquered by infinite love. Our sins fall upon him and his blood falls upon us. The full measure of our sins draws forth the full measure of his life’s-blood. From our wounds flow waves of death and destruction - the foul-smelling rot of sin. From his wounds flow waves of the cleansing blood of the Lamb without blemish, the medicinal water that flows from the tree of life, from the side of the temple which is his body; the sweet-smelling ‘yes’ offered to the Father from a truly human heart – the heart of his Divine Son.

With each breath he takes the aroma of sin and death fill his soul so that the author of life itself, moves ever closer to death. And when the last wave of the last sin ever to be committed breaks upon the shore of his suffering and he breathes deeply the stench of that sin too, he lowers his head in death, breathing out the Holy Spirit over those raging waters. “Quiet now, be still.” “Behold I make all things new.” “It is accomplished.