I've just returned from a great vacation with my son Kevin, his wife Omayra and their son Antonio in LA. We fit in a side-trip to San Diego to visit my nephews and their families. I loved every minute and enjoyed every hug. Now that I'm home I will begin posting a poem-a-day until Resurrection Day. Check the blog each day for a poetic meditation on Jesus' atonement for our sins and His glorious Resurrection...
A-Poem-a-Day Until Resurrection Day
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| Image credit: aleteia.org |
A POEM FOR LENT
I scan Google Images
looking for a depiction of the Crucifixion
to illustrate a Lenten poem on my blog
I’m unable to look squarely at the pictures—
Many are so heart-wrenching, so gruesome
I have to turn away
I think of the four Gospels
providing matter-of-fact statements
to tell us Jesus was crucified
sparing us details
of His suffering
Oh, I’m well aware
it is 2000 years later
and no holds are barred
when it comes to portrayals of violence
I go to the movies
I watch TV
I’ve squirmed through
The Passion of the Christ
with my heart beating fast
and eyes tightly closed
during the bloodiest sequences
I’ve read A Doctor at Calvary[1]
in which each and every stain
on the Shroud of Turin
is elaborated upon
in minute medical detail
I do not need
more graphic words and pictures
My mind’s eye sees
His thorn-crowned Head
His nail-pierced hands
My mind’s ear hears
Father, forgive them…
…why hast Thou forsaken Me?
It is finished.
At last, I click on an image—
a crossbeam, a circle of thorns
and three nails
I post it to the blog
insert my poem
and shudder
a most grateful shudder
that Jesus, my beloved Savior
endured that terrible Cross
for me
Maude Carolan Pych
[1] A Doctor at Calvary by Pierre Barbet, M.D., published by Image Books, a division of Doubleday & Co., Inc., Garden City, NY
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