 FOURTEENTH
STATION
Jesus is laid in the tomb
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
From the Gospel according to Matthew 27:59-61
Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen
shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn
in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the
tomb, and departed. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were
there, sitting opposite the sepulcher.
MEDITATION
Jesus, disgraced and mistreated, is honorably buried in a
new tomb. Nicodemus brings a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
about a hundred pounds weight, which gives off a precious
scent. In the Son's self-offering, as at his anointing in
Bethany, we see an "excess" which evokes God's generous and
superabundant love. God offers himself unstintingly. If
God's measure is superabundance, then we for our part should
consider nothing too much for God. This is the teaching of
Jesus himself, in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:20). But we
should also remember the words of Saint Paul, who says that
God "through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of
Christ everywhere. We are the aroma of Christ" (2 Cor
2:14ff.). Amid the decay of ideologies, our faith needs once
more to be the fragrance which returns us to the path of
life. At the very moment of his burial, Jesus' words are
fulfilled: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of
wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if
it dies, it bears much fruit" (Jn 12:24). Jesus is the grain
of wheat which dies. From that lifeless grain of wheat comes
forth the great multiplication of bread which will endure
until the end of the world. Jesus is the bread of life which
can satisfy superabundantly the hunger of all humanity and
provide its deepest nourishment. Through his Cross and
Resurrection, the eternal Word of God became flesh and bread
for us. The mystery of the Eucharist already shines forth in
the burial of Jesus.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, in your burial you have taken on the
death of the grain of wheat. You have become the lifeless
grain of wheat which produces abundant fruit for every age
and for all eternity. From the tomb shines forth in every
generation the promise of the grain of wheat which gives
rise to the true manna, the Bread of Life, in which you
offer us your very self. The eternal Word, through his
Incarnation and death, has become a Word which is close to
us: you put yourself into our hands and into our hearts, so
that your word can grow within us and bear fruit. Through
the death of the grain of wheat you give us yourself, so
that we too can dare to lose our life in order to find it,
so that we too can trust the promise of the grain of wheat.
Help us grow in love and veneration for your Eucharistic
mystery to make you, the Bread of heaven, the source of
our life. Help us to become your "fragrance", and to make
known in this world the mysterious traces of your life. Like
the grain of wheat which rises from the earth, putting forth
its stalk and then its ear, you could not remain enclosed in
the tomb: the tomb is empty because he the Father "did
not abandon you to the nether world, nor let your flesh see
corruption" (Acts 2:31; Ps 16:10 LXX). No, you did not see
corruption. You have risen, and have made a place for our
transfigured flesh in the very heart of God. Help us to
rejoice in this hope and bring it joyfully to the world.
Help us to become witnesses of your resurrection.
All:
[Our Father, who art in heaven]
Finished |
