The following is from a friend of mine... I thought it a beautiful reflection of how we can better love Christ, especially in this time of Lent.

Reflections of Christ….

Last fall I had the opportunity to attend the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s formation and retreat program, Invitation to Renewal, held at the beautiful Seton Cove retreat center in Indianapolis. During one afternoon session, my eyes drifted to the small wooden cross hanging on the wall.

I was reminded that crucifixion isn’t pretty. Jesus, though in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped, and displayed the misery we ourselves experience when his hour had come instead of his divine glory.

He was beaten, bruised, dirty, and suffering. He wasn’t dressed in decent clothing. Perhaps one’s natural reaction would be avoiding such a scene, if only to allow the person privacy in their humiliation. We are naturally repulsed from a manifestation of such physical pain.

It occurred to me as my thoughts reverted back to my life and the topic at hand, that it isn’t pretty when others are being crucified in their own ways, either. Sometimes we are naturally repulsed by the chaos of a living environment, a lack of hygiene, the indications of a sickness untreated, an odor untempered, an angry demeanor, an irrational worldview, or perhaps we are irritated by a seeming disinterest in trying to make oneself look at all presentable.

Jesus was crucified on a day like any other day in Jerusalem. People woke up, went about their work, kids played in the streets, food was prepared, and criminals were hung. Sometimes I wonder if I had been living in Jerusalem on that day if I would have acknowledged the death of three more men on trees – would I have even been aware?

Therefore it’s not surprising that we are not aware of many of the sufferings of others. They occur as we wake up, go to work, as our kids play, food is prepared, and criminals die on death row. But they happen, and people are beaten, bruised, dirty, and suffering. And so we should not be surprised, either, that some situations and people are not always pretty. Neither are we in our sufferings.

As Jesus hung on the cross, Mary stood at the bottom, loving her son. It would be an incredible grief to stand there and watch one’s son suffer. But to comfort him with her presence, she had to stand there. And so must we, instead of avoiding the suffering because of its ugliness. Then we can try to further imitate Christ by pulling others up out of their hell after the crucifixion to a place of eternal hope and glory.

We love Christ crucified in loving others as they suffer.

“Even as many were amazed at him—

so marred were his features,

beyond that of mortals

his appearance, beyond that of human beings -”

Isaiah 52:14