My fears, dear Lord, of opening my eyes to the suffering world are deeply rooted in my own anxious heart. I am not sure that I, myself, am truly loved and safely held, and so I keep my distance from other people’s fear-filled lives. But again you say: “Do not be afraid to let me […]
On that morning of the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala, and Mary the mother of James and Salome found the tomb empty and heard a young man in a white robe say: He is not here. Mary of Magdala heard him call her by name, and Cleopas and his friend recognized him […]
Joseph of Arimathea placed the body of Jesus “in a tomb which was hewn in stone and which had never held a body.” On the seventh day of the week of our redemption, when Jesus had fulfilled all he was sent by his Father to do, he rested in the tomb, and the women from […]
After Pilate had been assured of Jesus’ death, he granted the body to Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph “bought a shroud, took Jesus down from the cross, and wrapped him in the shroud.” Mary, the mother of Jesus, was there. Long ago, when she had let old Simeon hold her child in his arms, she had […]
Jesus died. The powers of death crushed him. Not only the fear-ridden judgments of Pilate, the torture by the Roman soldiers, and the cruel crucifixion, but also the powers and principalities of this world. The world’s death powers destroyed him.. . . Jesus was crushed by the powers of death, but his death removed death’s sting. […]
Jesus was nailed to the cross, and for three hours he was dying. He died between two men. One of them said to the other: “We are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41) Jesus lived his dying completely for others. The total exhaustion of his body, the […]
Jesus was stripped. The soldiers threw dice to decide which of them would have his garment. Nothing was left to him. He, the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation, was being stripped of all power and dignity and exposed to the world in total vulnerability. Here the greatest mystery of all […]
When Jesus fell for the third time, he lived in his body all the loneliness of a despairing humanity. He could not get up again without help. But there was no one reaching out to him and offering him the support to stand again. Instead, his open hands were struck with a lash, and cruel […]
As Jesus was led to his execution, women mourned and lamented for him. These women were accustomed to cry for condemned criminals and offer them sedative drinks. They were official mourners, and their mourning was considered a work of mercy. But Jesus says to them: “Do not weep for me; weep rather for yourselves and […]