- We adore you, Oh Christ, ...
"I AM TROUBLED NOW. YET WHAT SHOULD I SAY? FATHER, SAVE ME FROM THIS HOUR? BUT IT WAS FOR THIS PURPOSE THAT I CAME TO THIS HOUR. FATHER, GLORIFY YOUR NAME.” (John 12: 27-28a).
The dreaded hour, the long-awaited hour had arrived. Jesus is suffering a lot. In the midst of his annihilation, he makes a gesture of infinite love, a proof of his divinity, of his immeasurable giving for all men. He receives from Veronica the cloth that she presents to him and wipes his Face; the imprint of his Face remains marked to remind us forever that Jesus is Lord.
Oh, my Jesus, help me not to remain indifferent to the pain of others. May I, like that brave woman, go out to meet those who need you. Give me the courage to announce you to everyone, even if I am despised and rejected. May the imprint of your Face be always engraved in my heart. That I can truly love you, oh my Lord!
Father of all mercies, teach us to turn our eyes to what we do not want to look. Make us able to welcome those who are despised and diminished in their dignity as a person. That in each of our brothers, wounded by life and unprotected, we can see Jesus disfigured climbing up with the cross on his way to Calvary. We beg you for the infinite love you have for us. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
