Beneath the Cross

Fr. Ron Rolheiser

“Like Mary standing under the cross, we must not replicate the anger and darkness of the moment so as to give it back in kind. Instead, like her, we must do the only thing possible when standing beneath the consequence of evil, that is, let our posture, like Mary's, speak deeply through a voice that, unlike bitterness or collapse, says: "Today, I can't stop this darkness, nobody can. Sometimes darkness just has its hour. But I can stop some of the sin and bitterness that's in the moment by absorbing it, not distancing myself from it, and not giving it back in kind." 

Sometimes darkness has its moment and we, followers of Christ, may not self-servingly distance ourselves from it but need to help absorb it.  Sometimes all we can do is put our mouths to the dust … and pray … and wait. Knowing that, at some future time, the stone will again roll away from the tomb.

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