Christ Carries the Cross of our Sin - a meditation on the fourth sorrowful mystery of the Rosary

Jesus Carries the Cross

As You carried that awful cross,
You encountered women along the road.
They were wailing and weeping for You.
And You said to them:

“…do not weep for me,
but weep for yourselves
and for your children.”
(NRSV: Luke 23:28)

All the consequences of our lies and deceit.
All the knock-on effects
on our children and their families.
All the lingering doubt and
guilt and unworthiness
felt by our children, who have grown
fearful and uncertain of our love.

All those innocent others,
ill-instructed by our sin.
For the thousands of years before You.
For the thousands of years after You.
For all those sins we commit today and
until you come to us again in glory.
All, now, add to the cross You carried for us.

Oh My Jesus, You must have stumbled
under its weight —
the weight of the sin of the whole world
for all time —
all, in order to save and redeem us.

Help us, sweet Lord, to see You
in Your sacrifice and
to give thanks for Your passion.
To give thanks for loving us
even unto this horrible struggle.
Even unto death.

Help us to walk with You and
to bear some small portion of this weight,
as Simon, the Cyrene, did.

Let us not be forced into Your service.
But pray, instead, we offer willingly and lovingly
to relieve some small burden from Your heart.

Help us to serve You,
if only to wipe the sweat from Your brow,
as Veronica did.

Help us to offer some small portion
of our abundance and compassion
as You sacrifice — even today —
Your whole being for our salvation.

Pray, with Your Grace,
that we avoid future occasions of sin —
requiring even more of Your mercy —
even though the depth of Your mercy has no end.

Praise be to You, Oh Lord, and
to God, our Father, and to
Your Holy Spirit within each of us,
whom You’ve given us as a gift.

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I pray these meditations on the sorrowful mysteries are blessing your Lenten walk with Our Lord and deepening your participation in the mystery of His passion.

?Remember, each of these meditations are in my Rosary Meditations Library, at Walking With My Brother. The Meditations Library includes additional resources that you may find helpful, including background readings and a publication schedule for future Rosary meditations.

?And they also publish at Catholic 365 and on Substack, which allows people to subscribe and access them for free. If you do want to contribute to this effort, all donations will go to help physical renovation of St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows in Nashville.