Encouragement

A Bundle of Myrrh

by Maria Franco
03/25/24
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The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross is a solemn remembrance of the path that Jesus walked on his way to Calvary right from the time that he was condemned to death until his burial in the Holy sepulchre.
During Lent we meditate on these fourteen stations and journey with the Lord.
Mostly the Stations of the Cross are conducted or prayed every Friday in Lent but it can be done on every Friday of the year and even throughout the year to honour the Lord’s passion as we do daily at Holy Mass, remembering the ultimate sacrifice of his life because in all honesty the tremendous suffering that our Lord undertook needs to be remembered by us in every single breath that we take, that God, the Omnipotent one came down on earth for our sake and suffered the affronts and outrages of the Cross in order to save you and me.

We have entered the Holy Season and proceeding towards the glorious dawning of Easter. As we accompany the Lord this year during this most holy week, let us be fully engrossed in the Passion of Jesus by reflecting on the Lord's inner thoughts, what went on through his mind, the slicing pain in his heart, the agony of seeing his own people hurl insults and treat him so cruelly.
There are so many versions available on different meditations for each station from a deeper perspective.
I came across one adaption of the Way of the Cross, the words of which are always quoted on Good Friday in the Reproaches or Improperia which are the liturgical traditions of the Church, the words of which are truly heart imploring, "My people, what have I done to you, How have I offended you, Answer me."
This question is being asked by Jesus to every single human being on this earth and who will come later in the next generations.
“What more should I have done, and did not do? I led you out of the land of Egypt, and you prepared a cross for me. I opened the Red Sea before you, and you opened my side with a lance. I gave you a royal sceptre, and you have given me a crown of thorns. With great power I lifted you up, and you have hung me upon a cross. My people, what have I done to you, or in what have I offended you? Answer me.”
Prophets depicted through their writings about this blood streaked journey of our Lord, centuries before Jesus was born.

The Psalms (22: 1-2, 14-17) related of the anguish cry of our Lord on the Cross centuries ago before Christ came; “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me, far from my prayer, far from the words of my cry? O my God, I cry out by day, and you answer not; I cry out by night, and there is no relief for me. All my bones are racked. My heart has become like wax melting away within my chest. My throat is dried up like baked clay, my tongue cleaves to my jaws; they have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones.”

Isaiah (63:2-5) predicted the recounting of the spilling of blood by our Saviour to the last drop; “Why are your clothes red, and your garments like those of the wine presser? The wine press I have trodden alone and of my people there was no one with me. I trod them in my anger, and trampled them down in my wrath; their blood spurted on my garments and I stained all my clothes. I looked about, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that there was no one to lend support; so my own arm brought about the victory.”
His agonising rejection at Calvary; “I looked for comforters, and I found none. Rather they put gall in my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." (Ps. 69:20-21)

Jesus who went about healing people from sickness and evil did not deserve to die like a criminal. Pilate had even dismissed any serious punishment calling Jesus a dreamer but the furious crowd pushed him to give Jesus the sentence of crucifixion. Just before his passion, Jesus had revealed his glory to his apostles on Mount Tabor where Moses and Elijah stood with him.
On Mount Calvary except for the Apostle John it was Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene that stood with him when he hung on the cross fully battered and bruised.
After Jesus had died, his body was embalmed with myrrh by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. As we recall, one of the three wise king had presented Myrrh at the time of the birth of Jesus to symbolise his suffering and death. A mourning of three days in the tomb.
This anointing oil had the fragrance of a beautiful sacrifice completed in time by one who willingly accepted his father's will. One man died for all to be saved.
A bundle of myrrh is what Christ represented as he lay broken on the cross. His hands and feet pierced. His inability to breathe and support himself for three hours. His hunger and thirst on the cross. His garments taken away. He was truly broken. Broken down for you and me to be raised again for you and me.

Let us behold our crucified Lord! The countless wounds that he received for love of us. His whole gesture on the cross spoke of Love. His head was bent towards us; the head that was crowned with thorns to atone for the impure minds of men. The scourging he endured was to make up for the sins of the flesh of mankind. The heavy cross that he carried was made by the sins of the world. His arms were open wide to embrace us; His Heart was pierced with a lance so that his love could flow out to us. His death on the cross to ransom us all. Jesus, the Son of God, died upon the cross so that we may live forever with him in heaven and be delivered from eternal death.

This Holy week as we partake of the Lord’s fateful journey let us feel deeply in our heart the pain of every wound that was inflicted on him physically and in his heart. To walk consciously into the Lord’s passion just as Mother Mary did. We can no longer be casual onlookers for Jesus paid a heavy price for us and we have to render our hearts grateful to him by walking with him all the way so that the heavy fragrance of his sacrifice, the aroma of myrrh, a silent reminder of a bitter sweet pain will be entombed in our souls forever.

Maria Franco