Christ Crucified: Compassion Poured Out

Read John 19: 28-37 (Online Bible
Resource)

We begin this time of retreat by coming to the foot of the cross. Prayer with
this scene as described by John the Evangelist has a rich heritage in our
Christian tradition. For centuries Christians have reflected on the image of the
piercing of the side of the crucified Jesus and the flow of blood and water from
his side. Great theologians and spiritual writers have understood these words of
Scripture to speak to us on many levels. In a special way they have come to see
this Scripture text as communicating the life that comes to us from the
crucified Christ.

At the precise moment that seems absolutely lifeless and godless, the life of
God flows through Jesus to us. This is a moment that is infected with death.
John recounts the brutal action of a soldier in thrusting a lance into the side
of Jesus. Nevertheless, water in the Gospel of John is symbolic of the new life
that Jesus offers to those who put their faith in him. It is symbolic of the
Spirit that is poured forth at the death of Jesus. The stream of blood and water
is no longer to be viewed as a horrific sign of death, but as a sign of the life
that the death of Jesus brings.

In a thoughtful commentary on this Gospel scene (The
Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of John), Scripture scholar Donald Senior
reflects on the final verse in this passage: “They will look on the one whom
they have pierced.” This verse is a quote from the prophet Zechariah (Zech.
12:10). In the Old Testament, this passage was connected with an outpouring of
a spirit of compassion
on the House
of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Senior points out that the citation
of this prophetic verse suggests to you and to me that those who look on the
crucified Jesus and see the flow of life-giving water and saving blood from his
side will experience an outpouring of God’s compassion (p. 128). The compassion
of God has been poured out upon us in the pierced Christ.

As I reflected on this Gospel scene, the face of a man whom I met when I was
a college student came back to me. His name was George, and I got to know him
when I was a college freshman at the University of Richmond. During my freshman
year, I became involved in some volunteer work with people who lived in a poor,
rooming house district of Richmond. George was a disabled person with a long
list of challenges in his life. He suffered from a severe case of epilepsy that
the doctors had difficulty controlling with the correct blend of medications. He
was legally blind, though he could see well enough to get around and was able to
read Braille. George also had some mental deficits, though he was sharper and
more in touch than most people realized.

George lived month to month on a very limited disability income, barely
managing to survive at some points. He never had anything extra in his pocket.
He had also experienced the darker, more cruel side of life and human behavior.
Years before I met him, as George was selling newspapers on a downtown street
corner, someone robbed him of a few dollars. The thief hit George over the head
with a pipe. That injury left lasting scars and made his epilepsy worse.

But George was also a real friend of God – a person of
very deep faith in Christ. George was a churchgoing Methodist who would ride the
bus downtown to his church each Sunday. He would dress up in his best shirt,
pants and sports jacket, which usually did not match very well. (George never
looked like he walked off the cover of GQ
). He would often tell me stories about his church.
For example, he related to me a story about a time when his church was having a
fund drive (Catholics are not the only ones who have fund drives!!), and he was
somehow able to come up with $50 to donate to his church for a new pulpit light.
He was so proud of that gift and happy to see that light every time he went into
his church. He must have told me that story twenty-five times, but always with
the same enthusiasm. When I would go to visit George, I would often find him
sitting on the edge of his bed reading the New Testament from the large Braille
volume that he kept in his room.

George kept up a regular conversation with the Lord throughout his life.
Sometimes he would tell me about those conversations. Much of his prayer
included praise and thanksgiving, despite the terribly difficult circumstances
of his life. He would often say to me, “We need to praise the heavenly
Father.”

George would also talk to me about “The Savior.”  The Savior. That was
his way of referring to Jesus in his often cryptic manner of speaking. He would
talk about “the love of the Savior” on the cross, the love of the One who gave
himself for us. This was simple, heartfelt language, unadorned by all of the
theological subtleties in which I would be later schooled in graduate courses.
George had great trust in Jesus his Savior. He often brought himself to the foot
of the cross to speak to the crucified Christ. And his prayer beneath the cross
seemed to give him life. George was a person who made many visits to the foot of
the cross. He was someone who discovered the life and compassion that are poured
out through the crucified Christ.

For a nineteen-year-old college student like me, George’s vibrant faith and
his ongoing conversation with God made a lasting impression. I continued to
visit George through the years when I would go home after I joined the
Passionist community and was ordained a priest. George died about ten years ago.
He was someone who knew firsthand the reality of the passion of Jesus in his own
life. He experienced it in his body and his spirit. He was a person who came to
the foot of the cross again and again to find new life. He discovered the
compassion and care of God in his own life at that sacred place. George is part
of my own spiritual journey, part of my vocation as a Passionist priest, and he
will always have a place in my memory and my heart.

Each of us comes to this retreat with our own personal
concerns and burdens. Each one of us has our own experience of the passion of
Jesus in our lives. We bring with us those matters that weigh heavily on our
hearts and minds – problems in our families, issues in our relationships with
friends, concerns about school or work, decisions about our life paths, painful
experiences of loss and disappointment. I invite you to begin this online
retreat by coming to the foot of the cross and meeting the Lord Jesus at that
place. Speak to the crucified Christ about those concerns and place them there,
at the foot of his cross. Some years ago, Bishop Robert Morneau wrote a
wonderful little article on prayer in which he enumerated ten principles of
prayer. One of the simplest but most important principles was: “We must come
as we are to the living God.” We are invited to come to the living God, and
to come to Christ, as we are
. Not as
we hope to be some day, when we have it all figured out. Not as we think we
should be. But as we are. So today come to the foot of the cross as you are.

I invite you, then, to begin this retreat by rereading John 19: 28-37. Use
your imagination to place yourself at the cross and to picture this scene. As
you do, speak to Christ in your own words. Tell him about what is on your heart
and in your mind these days. Where is it that you need the new life offered by
the crucified Christ? Where is it in your life that you are in particular need
of Christ’s compassion? Speak to Christ about these concerns. And allow some
quiet time for quiet with Christ. Listen to him; listen to the One through whom
the compassion of God is poured out upon us.

Reflections for the week

Online Bible Resource: http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/

Tuesday – Pray Psalm 103. Read it out loud slowly, a
couple of times. Spend some time with verse 13: "As a father has
compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear
him.”
Allow this image of God as a father or mother who cares for their children, to
speak to your heart and mind. Pay attention also to other words or verses in
this psalm that strike you. Ask God for a deeper insight into his compassion for
you.

Wednesday – Read Ephesians 3: 14-21.  Pay attention to
the words: “and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that
you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
  Who
are the people in your life who have helped you catch a glimpse of “the love of
Christ that surpasses knowledge”? Give thanks to God for these people. Ask
Christ for a fuller knowledge of the depths of his love for you.

Thursday – Pray Psalm 51.  This is the
Bible’s most famous prayer of contrition, or repentance. This week we are
focusing on the compassion of God poured out in the crucified Christ. Bring to
Christ those areas of your life where you need his forgiveness and healing.
Entrust the darker sides of your life to him with confidence and hope. Ask
Christ for the grace you need to live your Christian life more authentically.
You may wish to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation during these weeks of
retreat.   

Friday – Read Colossians 3: 12-15. This
verse reminds us that we are “God chosen ones, holy and beloved.” As such, we
are called to “clothe ourselves with compassion.” As we have focused on the
compassion of God this week, ask Christ to illumine the ways in which he wishes
to pour out his compassion on others through you. Is there someone in your life
who needs to experience God’s compassion through you? The more we accept and
become vessels of God’s compassion the more fully we are able to experience the
peace of Christ ruling in our hearts (verse 15).