XIV. Jesus is buried.
Behold the wood of the Cross…
Pause and hold your heart and the world in your hands.
After that long harrowing day, finally, He is brought to His resting place.
It’s not the kind of burial you’d expect for a king, not even the kind you’d want for a friend: A rushed and unceremonious burial in a borrowed grave with a small traumatized but loyal crew. They couldn’t even wash His body properly as prescribed by custom. They would have to wait till after Sabbath.
What are you supposed to do after such a trauma anyway? How are you even supposed to feel? Devastated, that’s for sure, but could they have also felt some kind of relief the way we do when our loved one finally passes after enduring a long and painful illness—relief that finally, the long awful suffering has mercifully ended?
Only, we know what happened next. On the third day, He would rise again. The stone would be rolled away, and Jesus would step out of his tomb—changed, but also the same. His risen body would shine—even if He has chosen to keep His wounds.
And because of His suffering, death, and resurrection, this world too has been changed, even if it still seems the same. People would still be making choices—foolish and even evil choices. Things would still be going wrong, like diseases and deaths. It would still be a wounded world, except this time, every nook and cranny–even its darkest, most horrible corners—shimmers with the Risen Lord’s presence.
He will be there. We can find Him if we seek Him.
As we anticipate Easter, let us re-commit ourselves to hope. Because of the Resurrection, we must be hopeful people!
Hope shines brightest when the night is dark, so more than ever, the world needs us to keep our hope. We know that our world today is shrouded in darkness and danger. It’s all right if we don’t feel hopeful. Hope, after all, is not a feeling that passes as much as it is a muscle that needs to be exercised in order to grow stronger.
Our closing song puts it so well: “We may not reach the ending, but we can start: Slowly but truly mending, brick by brick, heart by heart.”
We’ll get there. Have faith in the Risen Lord. Hope in Him.
CLOSING SONG
Thank you for joining “The Wounded Way: Soundtrack of the Cross.” Make sure to thank the Lord for the blessings you may have received today.
What are you most grateful for from going through our Stations of the Cross? Make sure to say a prayer of thanks to the Lord.
Let us now end with this song of hope called “Beautiful City” from Godspell. May we all be bearers of hope!
Now that you have completed The Wounded Way: Soundtrack of the Cross, please share your feedback, prayers, and even questions below.
You are also invited to join the Pins of Light Holy Week Retreat with Fr. J this Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday from 8:30 am to 11 am at Mary the Queen Parish in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila—or online. Click HERE for more information on The Algorithm of Grace: Vulnerability, Violence, and Voyage.
5 replies on “The Fourteenth Station”
Thank you for creating such a meaningful space for prayer and reflection on Jesus’ passion and death. I truly appreciate how you’ve not only provided insightful points for reflection, but also curated contemporary music that brings the way of the cross into the present. In fact, I shared the link with some friends who have been struggling to create their own space for prayer amidst their busy lives, and I know this will be a great help to them as well.
On this Jubilee Year of Hope, this unique meditation on the Way of the Cross has truly been HOPEFUL…
Songs were a surprise; relevant & so meaningful. Thank you & God bless.
This has been a most meaningful way to spend Holy Wednesday meditating on the Holy Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise be to God for sending us His Son Jesus to bring us back to Him!
Thanks be to Jesus for dying for us and lighting our way! 🙏
NEVER LOSE HOPE. SHARE it.
Never LOSE HOPE. SHARE it.