Way of the Cross

Station VI

Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

Stop and really look at this moment in the life of Jesus. What strikes you? What speaks to your heart? What do you think Jesus is feeling? What does it tell you about how much He loves you? Spend some time in prayer and listen to what Jesus is inviting you into.

Meditation offered by Patricia Canning, a friend of St. Leonard’s Parish, visiting throughout the year from her home in Philadelphia, where she is an independent consultant advancing the interests of independent foundations, family foundations, and other funding organizations … and the primarily Catholic schools, colleges, and non-profit organizations seeking funds from them.  Her son, James Kalinoski, is a member of our parish.
It’s an image that seems so effortless to view, so clear in illustrating what’s happening — the appearance of a woman displaying an act of kindness and compassion to a man in great need. The event captured in the Sixth Station of the Cross — this traditional vision, though, could suggest a bit more. 
The physical pain from sharp thorns woven into a crown, piercing this man’s head, saturating his hair with blood now trickling down his face and, no doubt, into his eyes — all of this as he tries to stay upright while his shoulders carry a heavy wooden cross through Jerusalem’s narrow streets packed with the jeering, the merely curious, and the some who do believe. We stand back and marvel at it all, especially as we know that his journey ends shortly later in death.

Our eyes then rest on the sight of Veronica and her gesture of offering this man what could be but one minute’s relief from the sweat, the blood, and the blurred vision by pressing her humble cloth to his face. It’s a picture that has been seared into our mind’s eye for centuries, and it never gets old.
Even as painful as it is for us to consider Jesus’ physical agony, it’s an additional kind of pain that Veronica possibly saw that moved her emotions and action. By her one quiet, solitary, and courageous act, she disrupted and upended the mocking gesture that the Roman authorities intended with their crown of thorns. Perhaps it was this very public disrespect to Jesus’ dignity and attack on his emotional strength that Veronica found as shocking as the physical assaults on his body — maybe even more so —that pushed her out from the mob?
There was no standing passively by for Veronica, watching an inexplicable indignity being done to this dignified man. There was no waiting to be pressed into service the way that Simon of Cyrene enters the story. No, with little regard for what could be threats to her own life from both the soldiers along the route and the larger force of Rome’s power, Veronica stepped out from the crowd, alone and on her own, and acted with compassion, with courage, and in silent defiance to do the right thing – for the glory of God, literally.

Journal Questions:

1. How does it feel when we unashamedly and unapologetically proclaim our faith by a simple act that identifies us as Catholic, such as publicly making the Sign of the Cross and praying before meals?

2. How often have we felt pressured to go silently along to get along — whether in our homes, within our larger family, on the job, in our social circles — to avoid challenging inconvenient truths that we as Catholics know to be true?

3. How vocal are we in factually and definitively challenging attacks on our faith seen in print; in social media; in art, music, movies, and TV; in sports, and on college campuses — both secular and Catholic?  What are we willing to risk by speaking up?

4. How often do we share our thoughts with our teens and young adults about our Catholic faith, the power of prayer, our relationship with God, the Real Presence? How often do we pray together as a family, or even encourage prayer?

5. In the workplace, how often do we publicly acknowledge a colleague, an employer, or a team member who acts honorably in specific situations? Can we be counted on to support what could be courageous acts of integrity? 

About the artist: Adam Moniz is a Catholic Illustrator and Fine Artist who draws his creative inspiration from the beauty of our Lord. He is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Sacred Art at Pontifex University. Follow him at: www.atmonizarts.com or on Instagram @atm_adamtmoniz.