Were you there...

One cannot love without suffering. He [Jesus] showed us this very clearly upon the cross, where He was consumed for love of us. And it is still the same every day in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar... Since love makes lovers one in likeness, if we love, let us model our lives on His. -- St Margaret Mary 

Jesus' road to calvary is a journey of love. He bore the insults from his people, endured the crowning of thorns and scourging from the soldiers, carried the weight of humanity's sins, and was nailed to and died on the cross as an act of love for his children. but he did not travel this road alone. along the way, women wept for him, veronica wiped his face, Simon helped carry his cross, and Mary shared a tender moment with him. during his final hour, his mother and beloved disciple grieved at the foot of the cross. If we imagine life as our road to calvary, we too are never alone in our suffering as Jesus Emmanuel is always with us.  We feel his presence most during our stumbles and falls because it is during those times we realize we cannot always carry all the load life presents by ourselves. In our frailty, Jesus weeps with us, wipes our faces, and carries our crosses if we offer it to him. All the while, he desires to help us so that he may lead us to his kingdom, that we may not carry our crosses in vain without purpose and direction, and so we pray:

Dear Merciful Jesus Christ,

I grieve that my thoughts, actions, and apathy contributed to the nails driven into your hands and the lance piercing your side. and yet, Lord, you lovingly accepted it all for me. I imagine being on the side of the road as you pass by with your cross and saying to you, "Lord Jesus, I am so sorry. please forgive me." You gaze tenderly at me and reply, "You did not know what you were doing." but dear Jesus, I now know. I understand the weight of my transgressions and with each offense i am creating distance between you and me. Let not my sins drive a wedge between us, o Lord, but rather an opportunity to cry out to you and embrace you as you are always ready to lift me up. Give me the grace to accept my brokenness and inevitable sufferings as a pathway to your kingdom, and in realizing, that to live is to suffer, help me to be an instrument of your compassion to others who also suffer. Help me to be a Veronica and a Simon, so that in the end, all of our roads to calvary will be a journey of love and lead us to the foot of your cross.

-God's beloved