Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I must go to Jerusalem and suffer much… I will be put to death but three days later I will be raised to life.’
He also said:
‘If anyone wants to come with me, he must forget about self, carry his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’
Matthew 16: 24 25 Good News Translation
Reflection: Jesus falls a second time
Jesus had entered the city to cheers and hosannas only a few days ago, now he heard the watching crowd jeer and shout out obscenities as he fell again onto the dirt of the road under the weight of the cross.
Were the disciples who had followed him to Jerusalem remembering the words he had spoken?
How incredibly humiliating it must have been for Jesus to fall to the ground in front of mocking faces, and yet he remained humble accepting the fate of death on a cross.
Lord, when despair and danger take us to inner places
of darkness, help us to always remember that because
you have experienced human weakness your love will
lift us and you w ill save us when we fall.
We adore you O Christ and we bless you
Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world