Old Stuff

His face is visible in our acts of charity

On Holy Thursday we followed the Way of the Cross broadcast by EWTN from the Colosseum in Rome. I followed the text on the Vatican's Holy Week website because, as John da Fiesole says, children do not add a Cistercian-like quality to the Triduum home.

Anyways, the Pope's meditation on Christ's encounter with Veronica struck me, and what's blogging for if not for noting things that strike you? Anon!

Tradition has bequeathed us Veronica. Perhaps she is a counterpart to the story of the Cyrenian. As a woman, she could not physically carry the Cross or even be called upon to do so, yet in fact she did carry the Cross with Jesus: she carried it in the only way possible to her at the moment and in obedience to the dictates of her heart: she wiped his Face.

Tradition has it that an imprint of Christ's features remained on the cloth she used. This detail seems fairly easy to explain: since the cloth was covered with blood and sweat, it would preserve traces and outlines.

Yet this detail can have a different meaning if it is considered in the light of Christ's words about the last days. Many will then ask: "Lord, when did we ever do these things for you?". And Jesus will reply: "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (cf. Mt 25:37-40). In fact the Saviour leaves his imprint on every single act of charity, as he did on Veronica's cloth.