Station of the Cross Second Station Jesus receives his Cross
Station of the Cross
Second Station
Jesus receives his Cross
We adore you O Christ and we Praise you
Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world
This wooden beam dragged into view
Cut down with savage force, rough, torn askew
Jesus receives this burden with a tender love
A gentle touch imparting divine grace from above
The cross carried step by painful step, willingly
The Lord of life undergoes this task faithfully, lovingly.
Receive this…a request from a friend, an order from an enemy, either way this cross is given and needs to be received. The wood drenched in the sweat and dust, soon to be covered in blood, is given to Jesus. What on earth possesses people to such cruelty, such hatred, such ignoble brutality? What in heaven hatches a plan of love to be revealed in this inhumane journey? Jesus receives this cross with love, accepts God’s plan of love for loves sake. This tree and its infamy, upon which the Son of God died, takes sins clean away, restores a covenant promise of a people loved forever, and points a way to eternal life. A man of love is rejected, the God of love is abandoned by mankind. The garden of paradise has become a wilderness, and the world a desert devoid of hope. The Word made Flesh entered this realm and his touch transformed it, as he tenderly, mercifully, tends to the wild garden. Christ brought refreshment to the dry and barren desert, restored hope to hearts longing for love, hearts yearning for the dwelling places of the Lord. Jesus receives this cross with love.
Fr Patrick Brennan 26th March 2025 ©
Source: http://humblepiety.blogspot.com/2025/03/station-of-cross-second-station-jesus.html
Later when Jesus falls from carrying the heavy cross. He had been weakened by the scourging. A human being helps Jesus carry the cross. Symbolic? Do we have a place in what Jesus came here to accomplish? The pre-execution torture of Jesus led the Founding Fathers of the United States to implement a ban on cruel or unusual treatment of prisoners, but this ban was rescinded during the Bush administration.