My church has a 10ft+, 150+ pound Cross that we all kiss during Mass on Good Friday. One by one, each member of the congregation walks up and pays homage to the sacrifice our Savior made for us.
Today, after the last person kissed it, four ushers walked up to the cross, lifted it up, and started walking it to the left rear of the church. Awkwardly and slowly, they maneuvered the cross down two stairs and around the pews. When they finally shuffled to their destination, they slowly lowered the cross and held it - with shaking arms - low enough so one of the handicapped members could kiss it.
Then they slowly picked up the cross again, and awkwardly made their way to the center-rear of the church so an elderly man could kiss it.
This went on a few more times, and I have to admit, I was quite moved by the gesture. Here were four men bringing the cross to those that couldn't get to it themselves - ironically almost 2000 years after our Savior carried His away from us.
But I was also moved by the physical labor it took to do it. It took them 15 minutes to cover about 50 feet.
And then I realized God was sending us another message. He was giving us a small glimpse at the physical pain His Son went through ....
The cross Jesus carried probably weighed close to 300 pounds, and was probably at least 8 feet high. (And even if He only carried the crossbeam, that still had to be at least 7 feet and 100 pounds.)
Yet Jesus carried it hundreds of feet - part of that by himself.
After being brutally beaten.
And he wasn't walking on carpet either.
I don't know if I will ever be able to comprehend everything He did for us. But today I feel like I got the tiniest of glimpses.
I hope you are having a Blessed Triduum.
7 comments:
Very touching; bless them. I can't fathom how Jesus was able to carry His Cross at all after the brutal treatment He received.
I still don't always fully realize how much Jesus loves us, how much he went through so we can be in communion with God.
This post gets me a little closer...and helps me not to take things that I have for granted.
Michael,
What a beautiful gesture on the part of these ushers and I am sure some added grace for these modern day Simon's of Cyrene. This side of heaven I don't think any of us can fathom all that Our Lord did for us, but I do appreciate those glimpses.
Have a happy and blessed Easter!
What a contrast in our church.
The Cross was about 5 feet tall and it stood vertically on a stand in the middle just infront of the Altar for people to kiss. On either side of the Altar stood two Altar servers with smaller Crosses in their hands for people to kiss them instead so we can get the whole procedure done quicker.
Oh well ... better say no more.
Thank you Michael fo this post.
Happy and Blessed Easter to you and yours.
God bless.
Your post touched me, Michael. They always do. It's as if I get a "spiritual shock" when I read them :)
Michael, thank you for your words here. I recently heard a wonderful story about a man who tried to kiss the cross, but he couldn't reach it, he tried again, but still no luck. Finally, he blew a kiss. The point of the story was that we all come close to kissing our own crosses, but in the end, we often come short and don't truly embrace it.
How lovely that the ushers made it a bit easier for others to kiss their own crosses at your service.
God bless you and happy Easter!
Jade/Karinann: It was very touching and they certainly earned some graces that day!
Victor: I'm very fortunate that my Church takes time with these kinds of things. (Although I'm sure there were plenty at my Church that would have rather been at yours!)
Mary: Thank you very much. I hope "spiritual shock" is a good thing!
Anne: Oooo that's a good one. Much more profound than mine. Maybe I'll borrow that one next year :)
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