As a faithful disciple of that Jesus who became an outcast in the eyes of the religiously respectable and pious because he excluded no one – even sinners and foreigners – from being his friend and thus was guilty of sin by association?
Am I a disciple who is not ashamed or the naked, disgraced, and crucified Jesus?
Do I gladly seize the opportunity, as did Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross of the suffering Christ present in another person, especially one who is rejected by the crowd?
Prayer of Carrying Crosses
The road of life is crowded
with those carrying crosses –
those who have been flogged and abused
by old age, poverty or alcohol,
by poor education, drugs or crime.
When I see them pass my way,
do I hide – playing spectator –
or do I freely step forward to lift up their cross,
adding to mine,
as did Simon of Cyrene?
+
Let me take up my cross, and that of others, and follow you Lord Jesus, for by so doing I share in the liberation of the world.
Edward Hays
Lenten Calendar Suggestion
Patronize a black owned business/restaurant.