Carrying Our Crosses
As I was praying the Rosary today and meditating on the fourth sorrowful mystery, “The Carrying of the Cross”, I pictured the scene in my mind. There were throngs of people on a dusty road watching Jesus slowly make His way to Golgotha. Some were taunting and cursing Him while others stood by weeping. Mother Mary watched helplessly, unable to stop the brutality being inflicted on her son. Her heart was being pierced by a sword just as had been foretold so many years before. As the weight of the cross became too much, Jesus began to stagger and fall. The soldiers became worried that He would die before they could crucify Him. So, they made a snap decision. A man from the crowd named Simon of Cyrene was chosen to help. Simon came forward and took most of weight off of Jesus’ shoulders so that He could complete His journey to Calvary. Simon was reluctant at first and more than a little irritated at being chosen for this. But gradually, he began to see the truth about Jesus and a seed of faith was planted that day.
One of the amazing things about the Rosary is the way it has changed throughout my life. Even though I meditate on the same mysteries from Jesus’ life each day, there is always a new lesson to be learned in these stories. Today was no different. As I pictured Simon assisting Jesus in His passion, I was impressed by the fact that Jesus needed help to complete this part of His mission. Perhaps, He could have called down the necessary strength from His Father to make it on His own. But, He allowed Himself to be helped by Simon. He showed us that we all need this type of human help to carry our crosses in life. While it is true that we should always turn to God first for strength and comfort in times of crisis, we should not stop there. Jesus demonstrated that we need the help of others to bear these burdens.
It would be dishonest of me to say that I learned that lesson during today’s rosary. In fact, I discovered this truth in spades over the past few weeks since being diagnosed with a mass on my kidney. The outpouring of love and support from my family and friends has been nothing short of overwhelming. I have tangibly felt the power of prayer as it has lightened the weight of this cross and helped me carry it. I could try to explain what this support has meant to me but words could never come close to describing it.
I remember reading a story about Lou Gehrig when he played his final game at Yankees stadium. He had been diagnosed with a debilitating neuromuscular disease (far worse than anything I’m going through for there was no treatment for what Lou had). After the game, he gave a speech to the crowd in which he famously said, “Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.” When I first heard that speech, I had trouble believing it. How could a man feel that way in the face of such suffering? Now I get it. For, I feel the same way right now. I am eternally grateful for all of the love, support, and prayers poured out on me these past few weeks!
(A final note---We all have our crosses in life, both big and small. Please don’t try to carry them by yourself. Seek our Lord’s help first but also, find others to help you carry the weight. Even Jesus depended on another person to help carry His cross!)