The Carrying of the Cross

Jesus came into our world to bring about salvation. In taking on our human nature, He took on everything that pertains to human life in this world. One constant that is found among all human beings is the fact of suffering. We are born through suffering. We experience pain throughout our lives. For some, the moment of death involves intense pain. Thos left behind experience suffering at the loss of the loved one. In carrying His Cross, Jesus embraces suffering and makes it a means of our salvation.

As we walk the Way of the Cross with Jesus, we can unite our sufferings to the suffering of Christ. Each step He takes mirrors the sufferings of human beings. The Cross is imposed, and yet He takes it up willingly and invite us to follow, taking up our own crosses. It is a heavy burden, one that causes Him to fall, as Tradition has it, three times on the way to Golgotha. Eventually, it is a burden that is shared, as Simon of Cyrene assist Him through part of the journey. The Cross does not impede human encounters; the fact of its being carried along a path means that it allows for Jesus to meet many along the way -- the weeping women, His Mother, Veronica, and those who chose to stay with Him to the end. Human suffering makes companions of us all, for we all must suffer.

The Sufferings of Christ bring about salvation. As He experiences rejection, punishment, and the anguish of body, mind and spirit that come with suffering, Jesus lays claim to all that is human. "By His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)