Thursday, the Third Week of Lent

Sixth Station of the Cross – Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

  Moved with compassion for Jesus as He carried His cross to Golgotha, Veronica gave Him her veil to wipe His forehead.  Jesus wiped His face and when He returned the veil to Veronica the image of His face was miraculously imprinted upon it.

   The veil of Veronica is displayed in the Vatican during Lent.  While there is no scriptural evidence of this occurrence it has been recognized since the early days of the Church.  There is an important message for us in Veronica’s actions.

   Jesus was under heavy guard by Roman soldiers taking Him to His crucifixion.  It would have been extremely dangerous for anyone to interfere with that procession.  For Veronica to accept the danger and go to help Jesus speaks to her love and devotion to Him regardless of the circumstances.

   What is the lesson we can take from this event?  If Veronica was willing to put herself in danger to serve our Lord shouldn’t we should also have that kind of courage in our lives.  We see the courage of our police as they put their own lives in jeopardy to serve people.  Military members put their lives in danger to protect our nation and each other.  We speak of heroism in such instances and rightfully so.

   Are those who put themselves at risk for their faith any less heroic?  Think of the martyrs who have given their lives over the centuries rather than betray their faith.  St. Damien served the leper colony in Molokai for many years, contracting the disease himself and giving his life in service to his congregation of lepers.

   Today we live in a society that not only does not support those of faith but actively tries to eliminate any sign of faith in our country.  We can take a lesson from St. Veronica, St. Damian and many others in how to live our faith.  If we aren’t willing to put ourselves at risk for our Lord we aren’t worthy of Him.  He risked everything including His life to give us salvation.  Yet many who call themselves Christian refuse to stand for Him because it’s not popular to be openly Christian.

   As we consider the strength of our faith let’s make the determination to stand up for our God regardless of the risk.  He stood for us, we should do no less.