Catholic Meditations

Some crosses come of rough hewn wood,
Heavy the weight across the shoulders,
Rough the ropes that bind the arms
As the Son of man, marches in procession,
There to give His all for the likes of me.

Some crosses come in the barked orders of a cruel commander,
Selecting victims to die for retribution,
There one man shoulders his cross,
Replacing another to go down into that darkness,
Praising God each day, until, impatient,
They inject him with poison to speed him off to his Master.

Some crosses come in the shape of a long slow disease,
Stealing strength, freedom of movement,
And at last the ability to speak
From a loving man who spoke word after word,
Bearing his burden, in pain and patience
Day by day,
While the world watched, sometimes snickering,
Until at last, when it was time,
He returned home with a final amen.

Some crosses are simple, but hard to shoulder:
Smiling at the troubled spouse,
Being kind to a tired shop clerk,
Reaching out to someone who frustrates and hurts,
Walking a sick baby,
Caring.

Help me, O Lord,
To carry the crosses you send me
With fortitude and love,
Whether in great things or little,
For love of You,
Because You ask it,
And always, through Your help,
This day, and always,
Amen.

Susan E. Stone, 2007

Labels: Carrying My Cross, Discipleship, Loving God

Each step, that day, O my Jesus, how hard it was,
that last, painful walk through the crowded holiday streets
beneath a burden incredibly hard to bear,
one foot following another,
a countdown you were born for,
each step one less to the time when you would walk no more
before tasting the depths of death.

Watching you in mind's eye, O my Jesus,
so many years after,
when the reality of this moment is doubted by so many in the world,
in my heart, seeing your blood and sweat streaked face marred beneath your thorny crown,
I contemplate your words, "Come to me, you who are heavy burdened," and know,
that as I watch you walk that short but o so long march
from the place of condemnation to the place of execution,
what weighs more on your shoulders than the hundred pounds of wood strapped to your arms
is the weight of so many sins,
my sins,
the griefs of a sin-drenched world
the darkness gnawing at the center of untold hearts,
a load you carried willingly
so that we might find rest.

O my Jesus,
may I, in my remembering,
learn to follow in your footsteps,
walking the road beneath the cross you give me
with as much love and willingness as my wavering heart can muster
for the love of the walk you took,
this day and always.

Amen.

Susan E. Stone, 2006

Labels: Carrying My Cross, Loving God, Passion of Christ

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25


O Lord,
here, where the wood of my own cross
rubs agains my shoulders,
I begin to realize
that redemption had a real price,
that the blood flowing down your arms
was not theater decoration,
But you, Lamb of God
our pascal offering
slain,
the blood of atonement,
offered drop by drop
with each beat of your heart.

O Lord,
in my sorrow,
in my pain,
in the yielding up
of "not my will, but yours,"
I learn that true love
has real cost,
and grow more amazed
at the reality
of the price you were willing to pay.

Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us
in our blindness
in our willingness to turn away,
in our willingness to disguise the reality
of what you gave,
what you wrought
what you suffered.

Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us
and give us the true sight
that will let us see
the reality of your love.

Amen.


Susan E. Stone, 2005

Labels: Carrying My Cross, Lamb of God, Passion of Christ, scripture