Behold the Wood of the Cross
|
|
Dear <<First Name>>,
Last week I got an email from a friend suggesting that, during this Covid-19 pandemic, we put an holy image in our window for all to see. Good idea, I think. So here's my response: the crucifix of San Damiano, the cross from which Jesus Spoke to St. Francis.
On Good Friday, my letter is going to simple, and, for today, without "Smiles."
|
|
Beginning with deeply felt and experienced reflections on the Seven Last Words by Mary Pezzulo at Steel Magnificat:
1 - Father, Forgive Them
How could they not know? How can you torture a man to death and not know? How do you become a person who tortures to death and doesn’t know?
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2018/02/seven-last-words-father-forgive/
2 - Today You Will be With Me in Paradise
How we respond to the Lord is our own choice.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2018/02/seven-last-words-today-will-paradise/
3 - Behold Your Son, Behold Your Mother
And just as light was created in the chaos by a word from God, so by a word from God, Miriam was made the mother of all the living.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2018/02/seven-last-words-behold-son-behold-mother/
4 - My God, My God, Why Have You Abandoned Me?
If you seek Him, you will find Him hidden in every aspect of your life, and you won’t understand why you didn’t see Him before. But the day will come, in every spiritual journey, when you cannot find Him at all. No matter what you believed before; no matter how many logical arguments you know, how many apologetics texts you read, how rich your spiritual life, how deep your prayer and your charity, the day will come when you cannot see Him.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2018/03/seven-last-words-god-god-abandoned/
5 - I Thirst
Somewhere in all that anguish, he rejoices in you, because He loves you. Never be afraid to lift your common wine to Christ. Only you can comfort Him, because He thirsts for you.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2018/03/seven-last-words-thirst/
6 - It Is Consummated
The Son of Man is lifted up from the earth, and has gathered all people to Himself. All of humanity is here. You and I are here. What we do is our own choice.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2018/03/seven-last-words-it-is-consummated/
7 - Father, Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit
The Son of God could have brought His beloved from death to life by any means He wished. He chose this one: to come into the world and dwell among us as a human being, to receive from us whatever we wished to give Him without resisting– and then give us life, His life, His own life, His life’s breath. We receive the life of God through the exhaling of Life’s breath, real breath, air, from human lungs.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2018/03/seven-last-words-father-into-your-hands-i-commend-my-spirit/
|
|
|
Extended reflection on Philippians 2: Jesus Christ's self-emptying love. Regarding the earliest depiction of the crucifixion, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexamenos_graffito
|
|
|
|
|
Good Friday at the Filippino College in Rome with Cardinal Tagle
The first part consists of three reflections on "the Last Words"
0:00:00 - Reflection on "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" by Fr. Eric Bedural. (Powerful reflection on the meaning of this cry of abandonment in our times of COVID-19.)
0:12:34 -- Reflection on "I thirst" by Fr. Anthony Mariaselvam.
0:27:56 - Reflection on "It is finished" by Fr. Mark Simbul
0:39:55 - Reflection on "Father, Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit" by Cardinal Luis Tagle. (Wonderful reflection on hands. Whose hands can we trust?)
1:04:30 - The Beginning of the Liturgy of the Passion of the Lord, Cardinal Tagle presiding.
1:20:50 - The Passion According to John
1:36:30 - Homily by Cardinal Tagle
1:58:06 - Solemn Intercessions
2:12:20 - Adoration of the Holy Cross
|
|
|
Last, I invite you to spend about 10 minutes reflecting on the Way of the Cross from the point of view of the Wood.
|
|
|
Blessings, Peace, and Love,
|
|
|
Do you like my email messages?
If so, why not forward this message to a few friends and invite them to subscribe.
Click here to browse the archive of past messages and subscribe.
Each person has to subscribe her- or himself. Anti-spam and privacy laws discourage me from adding anyone to the list myself. I do not share this list with anyone, and am using a highly reputable mailing service (with a delightfully off-beat name), and so your contact information is safe with us.
(Want to send your own emails with your own ever-widening circle of friends? For small users, MailChimp is free and easy to use. Try it! They make their money on the big commercial gorillas, not on little baboons like you and me.) |
|
|
|
