("Pieta" by Guerro de la Paz)
The
Sixth Sorrow--Mary Receives the Body of Jesus in Her Arms
Jesus, may thy cross defend me,
and thy saving death befriend me,
cherished by thy deathless grace:
when to dust my dust returneth,
grant a soul that to thee yearneth
in thy paradise a place.
Although it might not seem like a gift for Mary to have received the lifeless Jesus in her arms, in reality it was a tremendous gift. Normally, victims of crucifixion were not taken down from the cross--they were left on it to rot after the vultures had picked around on the soft parts. They could remain there weeks, months--even so long as a year. They remained, scarecrow-like, in the hopes that the local population saw it as a potential deterrent. Families were generally not allowed to take their loved ones down from the cross. Mary was given one last sacred moment with her son when most families would still have to endure the sight of their loved ones on a cross.
Each day, all over the world, families face moments of closure, even though the news is bad. Mothers with missing children are notified that, although their child is dead, their child has been found. They accept the reality that their loved one will never return. Although closure so often follows bad news, it is a necessary component of the grieving process.
Let us pray. (silence)
God of all truth, you reveal all things in your time, not ours. Not all of your revelations give us the answer we desire. Just as Mary accepted her dead son in her arms, help us to accept the answers we are given, and to willingly embrace them, even if they are not the answer of our heart's desire. Lead us into the path of simply taking one step in front of another, as opposed to wallowing in the past. Imbue us with the courage to accept our heartbreaks as they are, not as we would have them to be. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, who triumphed over death and the grave. Amen.
Jesus, may thy cross defend me,
and thy saving death befriend me,
cherished by thy deathless grace:
when to dust my dust returneth,
grant a soul that to thee yearneth
in thy paradise a place.
Although it might not seem like a gift for Mary to have received the lifeless Jesus in her arms, in reality it was a tremendous gift. Normally, victims of crucifixion were not taken down from the cross--they were left on it to rot after the vultures had picked around on the soft parts. They could remain there weeks, months--even so long as a year. They remained, scarecrow-like, in the hopes that the local population saw it as a potential deterrent. Families were generally not allowed to take their loved ones down from the cross. Mary was given one last sacred moment with her son when most families would still have to endure the sight of their loved ones on a cross.
Each day, all over the world, families face moments of closure, even though the news is bad. Mothers with missing children are notified that, although their child is dead, their child has been found. They accept the reality that their loved one will never return. Although closure so often follows bad news, it is a necessary component of the grieving process.
Let us pray. (silence)
God of all truth, you reveal all things in your time, not ours. Not all of your revelations give us the answer we desire. Just as Mary accepted her dead son in her arms, help us to accept the answers we are given, and to willingly embrace them, even if they are not the answer of our heart's desire. Lead us into the path of simply taking one step in front of another, as opposed to wallowing in the past. Imbue us with the courage to accept our heartbreaks as they are, not as we would have them to be. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, who triumphed over death and the grave. Amen.
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