Hi friends! A blessed Palm Sunday to you! Jesus has been putting something on my heart this weekend. :)
I think many of us are in awe of Jesus' suffering but feel we can't fully relate to it. We feel we can't sympathize with Him because we haven't suffered such brutality as He did.
I watched the Passion of the Christ movie the other evening and was thinking/praying, "Jesus, I can't fully grasp how you felt in that moment, but I see Mamma Mary, and I can understand! I'll suffer with her."
Maybe this is you. Perhaps you're caring for or loving someone close to you who is mentally or physically suffering a great deal. How can you stand with our Mother at the foot of the cross this Holy Week and unite your sufferings with her own for Jesus?
Or maybe your suffering is more mental. You might struggle with anxiety, depression, fear, or other mental sufferings. In these, we can relate to Jesus' Agony in the Garden. Consider how He must have felt on Palm Sunday, knowing He would die so soon, condemned by the people praising Him. Then, in the Garden, when He felt the weight of every sin, every mental suffering, every bit of sadness the human race would ever and had ever felt. And He felt the rejection of those He loved, both those present with Him and everyone since who has rejected His love.
Maybe your suffering IS physical. Each step may mean more suffering for you. You do have to carry that cross. Be the Simon of Cyrene for Jesus this week. But this time, your cross and Jesus' are the same. You help each other.
Many of us suffer in all of these ways, and more. I do, and I still find it difficult to fathom the torture that Jesus endured simply because it was so brutal.
Even if we find it difficult to relate to the torture Jesus endured because we haven't physically felt it (and I pray that we never will!), we can help Him by suffering with Him. The Church teaches us that during Holy Week we are mystically present and participating in Jesus's Passion. When He was in His Agony in the Garden, all he wanted was for someone to stay awake and be with Him.
Now He's asking you: "Will you suffer with me? Stay with me even when it hurts?"
What will your answer be?
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