The Carrying Of The Cross

Fruit Of The Mystery: Patience

The following meditations are provided to assist you while praying the Holy Rosary. It is offered in a format where a question is posed to lead the meditation and then is followed by an answer below it.  It may be more helpful to grow in your meditation skills if you try to contemplate the question while praying this decade of the Rosary, and view the possible answer upon completing the prayers for the Mystery.

The meditations below offer possible answers to questions regarding these Mysteries.  Because the Wisdom of God is infinite, there are limitless insights that one may gain from meditating repeatedly upon the questions surrounding these Mysteries.  There are no wrong or right answers when praying the Holy Rosary in this way.  We are simply seeking to be inspired in our understanding of who Jesus is and how much He loves us, as the Holy Spirit gently guides us through reflective prayer.

For many reasons it may be difficult to engage our minds to enter into meditating on the Mysteries at hand.  An alternative option is to simply meditate upon the meaning of the core prayers of the Holy Rosary as you are praying them.  You may find these reflections on the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be prayers to be helpful during these times.


Patience

1.  How do we grow in the virtue of patience when carrying our crosses?

We grow in grace and patience in many ways when carrying our crosses through life.  We learn from following Jesus that we when are too weak to carry our cross we must patiently accept the help of others.  Sometimes this comes from those who are reluctant to help, like Simon of Cyrene initially was in helping Jesus; sometimes it is not in words or actions, but simply the presence of one we love, like the Blessed Mother who meets Jesus after He falls, that we are inspired to pick up our crosses and continue; and sometimes it is through acts of kindness that are bestowed upon us, like Veronica who offered her veil to wipe the face of Jesus, that we begin to outpour love and life again- just as Jesus left the imprint of His Sacred Face upon Veronica’s veil.  In all these cases we become shaped in the likeness of Christ as we patiently accept the help we need, while carrying our crosses which we cannot bear alone.

2.  Does falling serve to help us in any way when we carry our crosses in life?

When we consider the way of the Cross which Jesus traveled, we see the continual patterns of falling beneath the weight of the Cross and rising again until He reached His final destination at Calvary.  Thus it is through falling and rising in our own journey of life that we become more like our Lord.  Through this pattern we grow in the virtue of patience, as we are forced to accept our weaknesses and rely on the help which He provides through others to see us through.  It is also through our falls that we learn patience through hope provided by our past experiences in overcoming the obstacles of life.  We must follow the master and continue to humbly and patiently fall and rise until we reach our eternal destination.

3.  How does the virtue of patience increase within us?

Patience is like a muscle in that it grows when it is exercised against resistance.  Therefore, in order for our virtue of patience to grow, by His grace we must carry the weight of our cross.  This virtue of patience is powered by courage and love, and rooted in faith in Christ alone.  Our faith gives rise to patience as it assures us that our sufferings can and will be united to Jesus’ sacrifice for the salvation of souls, as we offer all things to Him through the hands and prayers of His most Blessed Mother.  Thus it is through an intimate union with Jesus through Mary that we become formed in His likeness and grow in all virtues.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary

1.  Why was the Immaculate Heart of Mary so pained in seeing her Son carry the Cross?  

Of course it was treacherous for Mary to witness each part of the Passion, but her Immaculate Heart was most deeply wounded in witnessing Jesus carry the Cross.  Though He suffered intensely in His Agony in the Garden, at the Scourging, and when He was Crowned with Thorns, this was the first time that Jesus has the chance to act under His own power in the Passion.  Knowing that Jesus lived His whole life to reach this ‘hour’ to glorify His Father, it was heart wrenching for Mary to witness His repeated failures and falls while carrying the Cross.  Because of the lack of sleep, and extreme blood loss and unheard of tortures that Jesus experienced up to this point, He was hardly able to walk without the enormous weight of the Cross.  Not to mention the emotional pain that Jesus bore as those He passed in the crowd surrounded Him with gestures of hatred, hostility and rejection, which was directed toward Him and His Blessed Mother.  It was for this reason that Mary flew to the assistance of her Son during this portion of His Passion.

2.  What sustained Jesus and gave Him the strength to endure His journey with the Cross?

Jesus was strengthened by the grace that was drawn down from Heaven through the prayers of the one who loved Him most.  Knowing His ultimate goal was to accomplish the Will of the Father in dying on the Cross.  All of Mary’s prayers were directed toward helping her Son accomplish what He set out to do- what His sole desire and ultimate purpose on earth was- to die on the Cross for our sins. In Jesus’ physical weakness, true sustenance to endure the Passion, came from the Immaculate Heart of Mary who lived for nothing else than to assist her Son in completing His mission to save all of our souls.  Her compassion in all of His suffering engulfed His fully human weakness and pain, as her prayers drew down Mercy, grace and strength from the Father.  In seeing her Son struggling to carry the Cross and falling beneath its weight, she was compelled to meet Him face to face.  Without words, the power of love is exchanged through their eyes, as she offers Him all of the love and strength in her Immaculate Heart to remind Him of His mission and see Him through to His end.

The Role of the Blessed Mother

1.  What was the role of the Blessed Mother in the Passion of Jesus?  What is her role in our lives?

The Blessed Mother was not put on this earth to assist the Divinity of Christ; there is nothing that she could have done or said to add to or diminish His Divinity, or what His Divinity would accomplish.  What she was created for, however, was to impact His Humanity.  To impact His physical well-being, His emotional well-being and His mental sharpness and fortitude.  When these human components combine with His Spiritual components (His Divinity), together they formed the Person of Jesus.  And her contribution in these areas reached its pinnacle during the Passion, especially when she encountered Him carrying His Cross.  In like manner, Our Blessed Mother is given to us by Jesus to strengthen us in our humanity.  But her support also reaches beyond the physical needs and assists our spiritual weaknesses as well.  Our Blessed Mother ministers God’s grace to help us to conform our actions to the Divine Will, by uniting all the powers of our soul (our will, intellect and memory) to the power of the Most Holy Trinity which dwells within us.  As with her Son, she is the catalyst in uniting our humanity (the physical, mental and emotional components) with His Divinity (the spiritual component) within us.  This is ultimately how we grow in virtue and holiness and are formed in the likeness of Christ.

2.  When comparing those who helped Jesus carry His Cross as He made His way to Calvary, what was different about the encounter between Mary and Jesus? 

Simon of Cyrene physically helped Jesus to carry His Cross; the Daughters of Jerusalem tried to offer Him emotional support through their tears; and Veronica showed Him compassion and love by wiping His face with her veil.  Though each of these people helped support Jesus in His sufferings, none gave Him more strength than His Mother.  In simply being present to her Son and looking deeply into His eyes, Jesus was filled with the immensity of love of His beloved Mother.  It was in this simple exchange of compassion that Jesus receives most comfort.  When we are filled with such love and intimacy in our relationship with Jesus, we too can bring hope to others simply by making present the overflowing love of the Most Holy Trinity that dwells within us.

3.  Why did the Blessed Mother intervene at this point in the Passion as opposed to another time such as at the scourging or the crowning? 

Knowing Jesus so intimately for His whole life, the Blessed Virgin Mary was aware that in His mission for the salvation of mankind was to be fulfilled by giving His life on the Cross.  In seeing Him staggering and teetering beneath the weight of the Cross, Mary’s heart was wounded deeply at the thought of her Son not completing the only thing His Sacred Heart desired.  In seeing this pitiful struggle, and His eventual collapse beneath the Cross she flew to her Son’s assistance as the crowd continued to mock Him and spit upon Him, and the soldiers continued to beat him.  She would see her Son through to His end.  No words were necessary; Jesus knew why His Mother arrived.  He was now filled with courage and strengthened by the purest outpouring of love from His Mother, that would help Him to make it to Calvary to be crucified.

4.  Why does the Scripture tell us that Simon of Cyrene was the father of Alexander and Rufus?

Every last detail of Scripture holds an infinite amount of treasure and is placed precisely by God’s inspiration to reveal something to us.  A perfect example is the question mentioned above.  We know several things about Simon the Cyrenian from Scripture, including the fact that he helped Jesus carry His Cross and thus winds up inevitably at the Crucifixion.  Before Jesus takes His last breath, Simon witnesses Christ’s command to take Mary as our Mother.  We also learn through Scripture that Simon's children, Alexander and Rufus, come to follow the footsteps of Christ in Faith.  Simon teaches his children to obey the command of Christ and take Mary as their very own Mother.  As the beloved disciple John must have had to leave Mary to preach the Gospel, Rufus must have been blessed to watch over Mother Mary.  This is why Paul addresses Rufus as being chosen in the Lord in Romans 16:13 ("Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his Mother and mine."). Because Paul is from Tarsus and Rufus is from Cyrene, it becomes apparent in this passage that the apostle Paul readily accepts this tradition of taking Mary as his own Mother as well.

Our Crosses Help Others

1.  What are some of the positive aspects of the crosses that we bear?

The physical crosses we bear, and seeing those of others, are necessary to raise the emotions which enable us and inspire us to grow in virtue and perform works of mercy.  The Blessed Mother’s act of kindness in reaching out to her Son as He carried the Cross (the fourth station of the Cross) inspired others to partake in helping Him through His Passion.  Consider the recruitment of Simon by the Roman soldiers to help Jesus carry His Cross, or Veronica offering Him her veil to wipe the sweat and blood from His precious face.  These events occur after Mary inspires others by example.  Our most difficult times, the falls that occur while carrying our crosses, are usually the ones that draw us closest to others in our lives.  Not only do they inspire the kind actions of others, but our suffering can also soften the hearts of others through compassion which leads to conversion.  We see this happen at the Cross when eventually the good thief asks Jesus to remember him in His Kingdom. 

2.  Although Simon thought he was summoned to help Jesus carry His Cross, who was it really for in the end?

When Simon of Cyrene began his day, he thought he was simply heading into the city of Jerusalem with his family to celebrate Passover.  God had other plans for him.  As he enters the city, he is forced to help carry the Cross of Christ.  Though he obeys against his will, it was not very long before partaking in the Passion of Jesus converts His soul through compassion.  Some may consider it chance that he crossed the path of the soldiers leading Jesus to Calvary at this precise time.  However, from a heavenly perspective we see that God’s loving plan was to bring him salvation on this day.  Though he was yoked to Christ to carry His burden, he received the much greater reward of the promise of eternal joy through faith in Jesus.  The same is true in our lives. We never know where our days will lead us, what challenges we will face, or how we will encounter Christ.  However, we can rest assured that whatever comes our way is because God desires to show us His great love and unite us in faith to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

1.  Where do we see what pained the Sacred Heart of Jesus the most in His Passion? 

In Jesus’ encounter with the daughters of Jerusalem, we learn most clearly that His greatest sufferings and pains in the Passion were not His own, but for those who would now be without Him.  He was deeply wounded by those who were committing sins against Him, in the very presence of God, and those in the future who would continue to turn away from His love and be disobedient to His commandments.  This scene gives us insight into His Sacred Heart’s deepest desires for our oneness with Him, and His adoration and love for us.  In essence it explains His longing always to remain with us in the Eucharist until He comes again.

The Cross

1.  What is more important- where our crosses come from, or what purpose they serve?

Often we get caught up in worrying about the sources of our crosses.  We especially become upset when our crosses come from those closest to us, and those whom we love most.  We must remember that these situations are necessary to carry out part of God’s plan for us to grow in holiness through His love.  It may be more helpful to focus on the loving intention of Our Father, rather than the origin of our burden.  It is in carrying our crosses with patience and gentle kindness that we imitate Jesus, and become like Him in our virtues.  We too must carry our cross with love, and keeping our eyes fixed humbly and obediently upon Our Father's Will.

2.  Why is the Cross considered the one mediator between God and men?  How does the Cross unite man with God, and man with other humans?

People may be different in their age, race, religion, sex, or ethnic background, but there is one factor that unites all of humanity- The Cross.  Not only did Christ die for everyone’s sins, but each of us is guaranteed a share in the Passion of Christ as we live on this earth.  No one is exempt from suffering in his or her lifetime.  Thus the Cross unites all men to God through Christ’s sacrifice to redeem each and every one of us, and unites all men to each other through the suffering we endure together.  The most beautiful unifying factor of the Cross, is that we are all invited to reign in glory with Christ through its sanctifying power.  Through the Cross we are offered the promise of the Holy Spirit, which gives us the grace to grow in virtue and live in union with God’s Will for us on earth, so that we may all be saved and dwell in the splendor of His presence for all eternity.

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