But they continued their shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” // Luke 23:21
Today’s Gospel is a lengthy one. Our parish gives the lay people the optional minuscule participant part. Minor though it may be, I cringe every single time.
The role? The crowd, with joined voices, jeering, “Crucify him!”
Every fiber of my being trembles as I speak those words aloud, struck by the times I’ve been in that crowd. Maybe I never literally went in one week from praising His name to calling for His destruction, but when I choose sin, I choose death. Each sin, a rejection of His love.
Perhaps you’ve been a member of this fickle horde. Maybe you’ve been one of the many silent bystanders, who said nothing but also, did nothing.
But as we step into Holy Week, may I offer you hope?
Saints were made this week. Their choice to follow Jesus set men and women on a trajectory for Heaven.
A woman proffering a cloth to our Lord as He passed, and having it returned with a miraculous image of His face? Saint Veronica.
A thief, justly accused and sentenced to die, who in his last minutes recognized God in the man next to Him, and begged to be remembered when Jesus came into His kingdom? Saint Dismas.
A Roman centurion presiding over the death of three convicts, who pierced the side of Christ, literally being covered by the blood and water that gushed forth from His side, and then claimed, “Truly this is the Son of God”? Saint Longinus.
The faithful women and disciple who never left His side, actively being present to the anguish He bore? Saints Mary Magdalene, Mary Clopus, and John.
Two prestigious men who had the courage to request the body of the man they had come to recognize as Lord? Saints Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.
Through the raw beauty of suffering, and coming alongside Christ in His Passion, ordinary women and men became extraordinary Saints.
Pause today, before we continue into Holy Week, to ponder who you will be. Will you be a woman walking with Him in His suffering, another step closer to Heaven?
Saints were made this week. // Sarah Ortiz Click to tweet
Sarah Ortiz is a Catholic convert, wife, and mother to six boys while living in a 200-year-old farmhouse in Western New York. When not folding laundry, she can be found reading, experimenting in the kitchen, keeping the family library, or snagging amazing antique furniture deals. She was a contributing author to Set a Fire. Find out more about her here.
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