Friday In Holy Week: Mark 15: 33-37.
There is a Good Friday tradition in the Church which focuses on the Seven Words that Jesus spoke on the Cross. To meditate upon them give some insight into Jesus’ thoughts and feelings as he endured the final ordeal. It is deeply moving to see that despite His pain at so many different levels He continues to care for others: that those who were persecuting Him should be forgiven; that one of the men being crucified with Him is assured of a place in the Eternal Kingdom; that His mother would in the days ahead be cared for by John.
I have known people who even when going through their last days have been concerned about others and held them warmly in prayer. They are following Jesus final example in not allowing personal circumstances, however dark, to stifle love for others.
What was the source of Jesus inner strength and commitment to others? There might seem to be an obvious answer. He was the Son of God! What do we expect? And yet on the Cross we find Him reciting verses from the Psalms which so often reflected His experience. It is possible that in His suffering He recited whole Psalms as He was taught to do from His earliest days. This emphasises to me something I already know but which needs to sink deeper into my being. I am kept strong in myself and for others the closer I am to the living Word of God.
