Spiritual Thoughts for the week

March 12th

Joining the Stations of the Cross

As we prepare ourselves in Lent for Holy Week and the remembrance of Christ's Passion, Death and His Resurrection at Easter, here are some prayerful and challenging words from ancient Church Father, St. Gregory of Nazienzen:

We must sacrifice ourselves to God, each day and in everything we do, accepting all that happens to us for the sake of the Word, imitating His passion by our sufferings, and honoring His blood by shedding our own.

We must be ready to be crucified…If you are a Simon of Cyrene, take up your Cross and follow Christ. If you are crucified beside Him like one of the thieves, now, like the Good Thief, acknowledge your God. For your sake and because of your sin, Christ Himself was regarded as a sinner; for His sake, therefore you must cease to sin. Worship Him Who was hung on the Cross because of you, even if you are hanging there yourself. Derive some benefit from the very shame; purchase salvation with your death. Enter Paradise with Jesus, and discover how far you have fallen. Contemplate the glories there…If you are Joseph of Arimathea, go to the one who ordered His crucifixion and ask for Christ's body. Make your own expiation for the sins of the whole world. If you are Nicodemus, like the man who worshipped God by night, bring spices to prepare Christ's Body for burial. If you are one of the Mary's, weep early in the morning. Be the first to see the stone rolled back, and even the angels perhaps, and Jesus Himself.