Mental Prayer for Thursday after the Fifth Sunday of Lent

Christ Falls Beneath the Cross

Mental Prayer Meditation Helps

Presence of God

Grace I Ask: Lord, let me feel the weight of your cross, so that I might know the intensity of your love.

Mental Picture: Noontime on a dusty, windy day in early spring... a narrow street in Jerusalem filled with snarling people... they are watching three men carry crosses... hate is in their eyes. One of the men strumbles... the crowd laughs in mockery. The third man can hardly move... His eyes are fixed on the ground... His back is doubled under the cross. He pauses, then lunges forward... His foot catches on the corner of a cobblestone and He sprawls forward as the people He loves laugh at Him. Jesus has fallen under the weight of His cross.

My Personal Application: Have I ever had anyone laugh in my face, mocking my good intentions? It often takes real heroism then to keep one's temper. Have I ever had anyone mock my efforts to help him? It takes more than heroism to continue to help. It takes love.

I Speak to Christ: Lord, the physical sufferings you went through were terrible, but the pain in your heart was even worse. Help me to feel that pain, so that I may know your love for me, and for all men.

Thought for Today: Within thy wounds hide me!
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Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)