Secular Franciscan Way of the Cross – Station 14 – Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

Church of Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Avranches, Manche, Normandie, France. Fourteen enamel paintings, technique from Limoges, representing the Stations of the Cross Tango7174, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

M: We love you, O Lord

A: Because by your Holy Cross, and resurrection You have redeemed the world.

M: The Fourteenth Station – Jesus is laid in the tomb.

“When it was evening, there came a rich man of Arimathea, called Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate thereupon ordered it to be handed over. So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. He then tolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away. “ ( Matthew 27:57-60)

A: Help us Lord, to fully live our vocation.

Reflection :

Have I taken my vocation, seemingly lifeless, from lack of care, from lack of attention, from lack of feeding and love, and laid it in a tomb ?

Did I take it wrap it in a burial shroud and no longer to be part of the living of my faith ?

Have I ignored the weeping of my brothers and sisters, longing to be with me and hear my testimony ?

Do I not share my life with my brothers and sisters, while choosing to do other things instead, robbing them of my time, talents, and treasure ?

Have I rolled my stone heart over the front of it, and walked away ?

Am I like the reason my vocation has not flourished and grown and been set ablaze for love of God, and my Franciscan family ?