Calvary
by VP
Posted on Friday April 02, 2021 at 12:00AM in Meditations
Crucifix, Mother of Mercy Catholic Church, Washington NC
"The contemplation of Calvary is heartbreaking. The very name Golgotha connotes a world of woe. The ghastly deeds done upon the hill outside of Jerusalem are like a nightmare to devoted Christians. Even to the imagination the Crucifixion is a hideous thing. The swish of scourges upon naked flesh, the spatter of blood, the demoniacal cries of the mob of fanatics and murderers, the sound of the crunching of nails driven powerfully into human flesh and sinews, the inhuman shout of triumph when their Victim was nailed to His cross, the crude, coarse jesting, the blasphemous banter, all the unknown, incredible cruelty of an Oriental mob- it is enough to make the heart stand still with horror.
But we have no right to shrink from witnessing the tragedy of Calvary. If we know not Calvary, we know not Christ. We dare not, like cowardly Christians, omit the cross from our Christianity. God forbid we should glory except in the cross of Christ."
Source: A Thought a Day for Lent, Rev. James M Gilles, C.P.; Paulist Press, 1923.
