The Fourteenth Station: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed. (Matthew 27:59-60)
Not far from Calvary is the tomb that Joseph of Arimathea offered Our Lady to use for Jesus. John and Joseph take the body from Mary’s arms and lay it in the hewn stone grave. There is no time to dress the body properly because Passover is about to begin. The earliest they will be able to return is Sunday morning after the Sabbath. Several soldiers have been assigned to secure the grave and guard it. They have to use thick ropes and all of their weight to move a massive rock in front of the opening of the tomb. And they made his grave with the wicked and with the rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah 53:9)
With the sealing of the tomb, Jesus, You are gone from sight. I try not to be jealous of those blessed few whom You visited after your Resurrection. Let my desire to feel the gaze of Your eyes help me to choose heaven every day, throughout the day. A life without Your presence is no life at all. Do not ever let me take you for granted in the Eucharist. Thank you for anticipating our need for You as a constant companion. I am so weak! Jesus, help me move the boulders that come between us.
Points to consider:
Whenever possible, do I spend time talking to Jesus in the tabernacle, realizing that it is the living Christ Who is waiting within?
Do I seek Christ at Mass with the same eagerness with which the holy women returned to the tomb on Easter morning, convinced that it is not a corpse that I am going to memorialize but the living God Who nourishes me?
Do I live my life with hope that is grounded in the Resurrection? No matter how hard things may get, because Jesus rose from the dead, all suffering that is united to Christ’s cross will be redemptive!
Do I teach my children that as Christians we are a hope-filled people and that the way we live our lives should reflect this optimism?
Do I realize that my actions on earth are the choice of my immortal destination? Do I teach my children to choose heaven by choosing to follow and befriend Jesus in the little actions of every day?
I long for rest. I have not the courage to struggle on. I feel the need of quiet reflection to think of salvation, which the complications of this world have made me forget. Saint Zelie Martin, mother