St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

A Meditation given by the Reverend Bruce W. B. Jenneker on Palm Sunday, 5 April 2009

And now –
what about us?
Where shall we take our places here at the foot of the cross?

Shall we join those ten men
running away down the hill with such cowardly haste?
Can we run with them,
count as ourselves among them?

I think not.
We didn't answer
when he called, 'Follow me.'
We dismissed him
when he taught that the last will be first and the first last.
We did not take up his cross.
We dare not presume to run away with the disciples,
we have no place among them.

We have nothing to fear,
no flight is necessary for our safety.
We have not challenged the status quo.
We have not demanded
that the religious authorities practice what they preach.
We have nothing to fear –
and no place among the terrified disciples as they scurry down the hill.

So -
what about us?
Where shall we take our places here at the foot of the cross?

Shall we stand here next to John
whose heart is breaking
as his friend dies there on the cross?
Shall we stand here with John
in the circle of closeness
that he and Jesus have shared?

I think not.
We have not remained at his side as John did.
We have not embraced his message of love as John did.
We have not surrendered ourselves to him as John did.
We have no place with John here at the foot of the cross.

There, with John
stand Mary his mother and Mary Magdalene
and with them the other Mary and Salome.

Shall we join the group of weeping women
and take our place among them?

I think not.
We have not been Christ-bearers as Mary was,
we have not allowed a sword to pierce our hearts.
We have not given all we have to support him,
made ourselves poor on his behalf.
We have not bathed his feet with our tears
or massaged them with costly nard.
We have no place with Mary and the women at the foot of the cross.

So are we relegated to bystanders –
those who have come to peer and pry,
gaze and gossip, stare and shout.
Are we spectators merely –
safe from the authorities,
removed from the matter at hand
lookers-on, passers-by?
Is that all we are – onlookers, part of the curious, disconnected mob?
Or is there a place for us at the foot of the cross?

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
dying now for us –
call to us from your agony,
call us
and make us worthy to have a place
at the foot of your cross.

.

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