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The Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Mother

The Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Mother

Last updated on: April 21, 2017 at 9:03 pm by Mary Pezzulo

The Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Mother 2017-04-21T21:03:50-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

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We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow, which is done to me, with which the LORD has afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.

She has been here all along.

This was the fulfillment of Simeon’s prophecy; this was the sword that ran through her heart. She watches– she could not stop it from coming to this, and she cannot make it better. She watched her only Son betrayed, mocked, tortured to the point of death and sentenced to execution anyway; now she watches Him dragged out to die. The angel told her of His coming, but the angels are silent now. She saw Him worshiped by shepherds; now she sees Him led like a lamb to the slaughter. She welcomed the Magi who came to honor Him; now she sees Him crowned with thorns and led away. She saw Him heal the blind and the leper, but now His own blood is blinding Him and He is torn apart, more hideous to behold than any leper.

She rejoiced to find Him in the temple, and now she is losing Him again.

There is nothing she can do but be present, but follow Him until the end.

And so she is.

And now He sees her.

After all these hours of agony, abandoned by His friends, He sees her.

He sees someone who loves Him, and has not abandoned Him.

I can’t imagine what passes through His mind. Sorrow at her pain, certainly, deeper sorrow than I can comprehend. Those who love perfectly sorrow more deeply than anyone else. But He must have also felt relief, maybe even joy– because those who love perfectly rejoice in love more deeply than anything else, and His mother’s love for Him is perfect.

Here is perfect love, from a perfect mother.

Here is our example, for every act of love.

The first act of love is to be present.

Everything else flows from that.

If you love someone, be present to them. Don’t shy away from their suffering. Suffer with them. Remain with them when they are betrayed. Stay present when they are ugly; when the whole world mocks their ugliness. Stay present even when there’s nothing you can do. Share in their helplessness. Share in their loneliness. Let those who count them as nothing count you as nothing as well.

The first act of worship is the same.

Worship the wounded Christ the way His mother did.

Follow Him.

Follow close by, no matter what happens. Follow even though you don’t think you do Him any service. Follow even though the crowd is thick and loud, and you think there’s no way you’ll be seen. Remain close by Him when He doesn’t seem like God or even a king anymore. Remain even when the very signs of kingship look like mockery and farce. Remain and Christ will see you.

He will look at you.

The Lover of Mankind will look at you, and be glad that you are there.

(image via Wikimedia Commons)

Steel Magnificat will be meditating on the Way of the Cross on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout Lent. All Stations are linked in this post.

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Jesus meets His Mother

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