The Fourth Station; Jesus meets his Mother, by Sharon

Mary watches her son being dragged toward certain death.  She is helpless to save him.

As a nurse, I find it difficult to watch people come in to the ER and with all my training and experience I find myself helpless to do anything to save  them.  The most difficult scene which I see replayed over and over in the ER is when a child or infant come in and there is nothing their mother’s can do to save them.   I have seen children with tumors on the brain, mangled limbs from automobile accidents, teens overdosed on drugs, and babies with genetic blood disorders.   Pre-planning the funeral for a baby is not the way it is supposed to be.

What was Mary thinking when she saw her son’s battered and bruised body.  When their eyes met and they saw each other through the blood, the sweat, and the tears.   As heart wrenching as this scene is time and again, I am often touched by the scene of mother and child's eyes meeting, if just for a moment, there is a deep affection held in that sacred stare.

I pray that I always have the courage not to look away but to look toward the light and hold in our hearts the look of love.

Jesus, you feel so alone with all those people yelling and screaming at you. You don’t like the words they are saying about you, and you look for a friendly face in the crowd. You see your mother. She can’t make the hurting stop, but it helps to see that she is on your side, that she is suffering with you. She does understand and care.  Amen.