12 April, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations for Every Day

The Road to Calvary

1. After having been condemned to death, Jesus is delivered into the hands of the Jews to be crucified as a malefactor. Two rough beams of wood are fixed together in the form of a cross and placed upon His shoulders. He is already worn out with suffering and has lost large quantities of blood as a result of the scourging and of the crowning with thorns. Jesus does not reject the Cross, but embraces it. He has come into this world to show forth His infinite love and to redeem us from our sins by His sufferings and death. In the garden of Gethsemane He has said with sublime resignation to the Heavenly Father: “Not my will but thine be done.” (Luke 22:42) The Cross is too heavy for His human strength, but what does that matter? He embraces it, takes it upon His weary shoulders and sets out for Calvary.

Perhaps we have often kissed the Crucifix with reverence and affection. Let us keep it hanging upon the walls of our home where we can gaze on it with love and hope. Let us pray before it in our moments of need. But what about our own cross? Do we love our cross as Jesus loved His? Do we embrace it as Jesus did? Do we bow willingly beneath the load as He did, and do we carry it with resignation and without useless complaints? It is not enough to love the Crucifix. We must love our own cross as well in silence and in prayer, knowing that only in this way can we imitate Jesus Who has said to us: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

2. Jesus walks towards Calvary, carrying His cross. With every step and with every jerk His wounds reopen and pour blood. His shoulders, torn by the rough wood, are lacerated with unimaginable pain. In His exhaustion He stumbles many times, but He rises and takes up the cross again. How often do we complain of our cross and of God because He has given it to us? How often have we cursed it, or at least said to God in our prayers that the cross is too heavy and that we should like Him to give us a lighter one.... But this will not do. Everyone must carry his own cross, and nobody else's every day of his life. If the load seems too heavy, let us look at Jesus. He Who is supremely innocent has carried His cross as far as Calvary. Why should we, who are sinners, not have to carry ours? Let us recall the teaching of the masters of the spiritual life, namely, that the only way of perfection is the way of the cross.

3. Jesus meets His most holy mother Mary on the road to Calvary. His divine gaze meets her motherly eyes as she looks upon her only son and her God. There is no word of comfort on either side, for their hearts fully understand one another. Mary knows that her son is the Redeemer who has come to save fallen humanity by His bloody death, and Jesus knows that, as the holy Simeon has foretold, a mystical sword must pierce the heart of His Mother, now become the Queen of Martyrs. Let us turn to Mary also in our moments of sorrow, especially when our cross seems too heavy for us. Our loving Mother will dry our tears and give comfort to our hearts.