• Our Life
    • Our Story
    • Our Day
    • Apostolates
  • Charism
  • Vocations
  • Blog
    • Subscribe
  • Giving
    • Donate
    • Growth
    • An Evening with the Sisters
  • Contact
    • Message us
    • Request a Prayer
    • Vocation Inquiry
    • Newsletters
Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa
Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa
  • Our Life
    • Our Story
    • Our Day
    • Apostolates
  • Charism
  • Vocations
  • Blog
    • Subscribe
  • Giving
    • Donate
    • Growth
    • An Evening with the Sisters
  • Contact
    • Message us
    • Request a Prayer
    • Vocation Inquiry
    • Newsletters

Blog

Pity Thou Him and He Will Pity Thee

4/7/2023

 
Picture
Photo Credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.
“…I knew God by His pain!
And by that sight
I saw the light;
Thus did my grief
For Him beget relief…
So learn this rule from me:
Pity thou Him and He will pity thee!”

​
​It is the agonizing privilege of every Sister Teacher and Sister Catechist, explaining to wide-eyed innocents for the first time about the dolorous passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to regard with fresh unction the painful realities of the sorrowful mysteries: 
“But Sister, how could they?... Sister, did it hurt?...Poor Jesus! Poor Mary!..” These lamentations chorusing from innocent voices renew profound sentiments of contrition for the sins whose wages are death. Yet, the sorrow of Good Friday can never be without tender gratitude at seeing oneself so loved; awe of the obedience with which Our Lord suffered and a profound tenderness towards the suffering God on the cross. It is perhaps to elicit such tenderness that Our Lord suffered so; opening us to His grace by drawing from our hearts of stone tears of human sympathy, binding us by “chains of love” to the one who loved us to the point of death. 
Picture
​It is this tenderness which draws from the lips of our children desires to alleviate Our Lord’s suffering. It is this same tenderness which we see enacted by many characters of the Passion, amidst the violent cruelty inflicted upon Our Jesus: Claudia, who intercedes for Him, the women of Jerusalem who weep for Him; His faithful ones (most especially His Sorrowful Mother) at the foot of the Cross. All these come readily to our minds. But there are others who show Our Lord compassion in his suffering: the Good Thief, St. Dismas, who defended the innocence of Our Lord while Gesmas blasphemed and mocked Him (in whose redeemed voice the opening poem of this reflection was written). Not only St. Dismas but also, often forgotten, the nameless soldier who, when Our Lord cried out His thirst, ran to sate it by offering Him the wine of poor quality—so poor it could be called vinegar—which was his only ration.
Picture


​"​…A plea for help from Jesus, the Son of God!...When Jesus Christ was dying, when the Help of the helpless Himself cried out for help […] it was a flippant soldier—suddenly grown tender-hearted—a young conscript under orders to do the vile work of Caesar, who obeyed a law more fundamental than Caesar’s and offered Jesus the refreshing solace of a few drops of wine …
"The Gospel says he went running to do this work of mercy… If…this rude soldier ever came to understand the truth concerning Jesus—ah, how he must have cherished ever afterward the memory of this moment! But even if Christ did not reveal His divinity to this young pagan, surely Christ never forgot the mercy done His humanity by the young soldier who offered a share of the best he had as a courtesy which Jesus accepted as such."
So may we let ourselves be drawn by chains of tenderness to Cross and bound by chains of love to remain there. May meditating upon the human suffering of Christ draw us further to regard the awesome divinity hidden beneath the Man of Sorrows. Most importantly, let us not forget that Christ reigns, triumphant from the Cross: triumphant over the pride and disobedience which led our first parents to fall; triumphant in love of us and love of the Father over the natural human love of one’s own life. Mourn with Him awhile, but not without the candle of our share in Our Lady’s faith gleaming in our hearts, which waits with firm expectation for the Tree of Life to resurrect from this seed of Christ, which has fallen to the ground, and died.
​
Poem and quote both taken from Cardinal John J. Wright’s “Words in Pain” (Catholic Institute of Pittsburgh Inc., 1986) published by Ignatius Press.  
Picture

Comments are closed.
    Subscribe

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Advent
    Christmas
    Easter
    Events
    Feast Days
    Image Insights
    Lent
    Liturgy
    Mary's Hands & Heart
    Monthly Devotion
    Our Lady
    Our Lord
    Photo Journal
    Prayer
    Reflections
    Religious Life
    Saintly Sayings
    St Joseph
    True Devotion

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

Picture

Navigation


  • Home
  • Our Story
  • Giving
  • Blog
  • ​Donate
  • Contact
  • ​Privacy

Stay Connected



Copyright 2024 Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa
Website by Fitz Designz