From today’s First Reading:
“As the crowds were appalled on seeing him
– so disfigured did he look
that he seemed no longer human –
Without beauty, without majesty we saw him,
no looks to attract our eyes;
a thing despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering,
a man to make people screen their faces;
he was despised and we took no account of him.
And yet ours were the sufferings he bore,
ours the sorrows he carried.
By force and by law he was taken;
would anyone plead his cause?”
Today is Good Friday: the day we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. As you walk with Jesus today, as he carries his cross, can you recall the journeys of the refugees you have accompanied with us during Lent?
An Invitation to Prayer and Reflection
Throughout Lent, we’ve introduced you to Ibrahim, Fernand, Juliet, John, Cecile, Christian and Han; and invited you to share in their experiences.
You walked with them as they described some of their most painful moments and humiliating experiences. You have shared in their moments of joy, and in their hopes for the future.
On his final journey through the streets of Jerusalem to his death, Jesus was jeered at and humiliated. Untruths had been spread; he was disbelieved; flogged, tortured, stripped of his clothes and his dignity.
The liturgy today invites us to stand at the foot of the cross, to be with Jesus in these final moments of his life. As you stand with Jesus, what memories of our journey come to mind?
We invite you to spend time with the Lord and those memories today, at the foot of the cross.
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