Fifth Reflection of the Fifth Week of Lent

In the fifth week of Lent, we allow ourselves to be challenged by the words of Blessed Anna Katharina Emmerick, inspired by visions of the sorrowful Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; visions on which the film The Passion is based and which... cannot leave us indifferent. 

Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross

I saw the Blessed Virgin and Mary Magdalene seated at the foot of the cross, absorbed in sorrowful contemplation; the other women were busy preparing the linens, spices, water, sponges, and vessels.
Everyone was sorrowful; in silence they carried out their mournful task. From time to time I heard the muffled moans of one of the pious women. Mary Magdalene had surrendered herself entirely to her immense grief; no one could distract her.
After placing the ladders behind the cross, Nicodemus and Joseph climbed up them, carrying the large shroud to which three large straps were attached. With it, they tied the holy body of Jesus to the wood of the cross above the arms and knees; then they secured the arms to the crossbeam and began removing the nails from the hands, striking them from behind with pins placed against the points. Joseph removed the left nail, allowing Jesus’ arm to fall back with the loop surrounding it; at the same time, Nicodemus secured the Lord’s holy head to the cross, as it had drooped completely onto the right shoulder, and removed the right nail, letting Jesus’ arm fall back onto the body. The nails in the hands immediately fell out of the wounds, which had been enlarged by the weight of the body; the body no longer rested on the nails, but was supported on the cross only by the sheet that had been tightened around the cross. Abenadar [the centurion], meanwhile, laboriously pulled out the long nail that pierced the feet.
Then the lower part of the body, which at the Savior’s death had collapsed onto the knees, returned to its natural position.
Cassius [a legionary] respectfully gathered the nails and placed them at the Virgin’s feet.

Once they had removed all the nails, Joseph and Nicodemus placed the ladders against the front of the cross, near the Lord’s holy body. With great care, they gently freed him from the ropes and the three straps and lowered him with great love.
The centurion, having climbed onto a stool, gathered him in his arms above the knees, while Joseph and Nicodemus, supporting him from above, lowered him slowly.
At each rung of the ladders they paused, taking every precaution, as if they were frater­nally carrying the body of a gravely wounded friend. Thus Jesus’ tortured body was lowered to the ground. It was a scene that touched my heart. 
The Lord’s other friends, trembling with anguish, devoutly followed the movements of his descent from the cross. Some of them even raised their arms and moaned.

The grief of the pious women, John, the good members of the Sanhedrin, and the converted soldiers was expressed with the utmost composure, revealing sincere humility before the supreme will of the Father in heaven.
The hammer blows had reminded them of Jesus’ sufferings.
After the deposition, Christ’s most sacred body was covered with a linen cloth from the knees to the hips and laid in the arms of the sorrowful Mother. She leaned toward him, full of grace and sorrowful love.

Is the pain of loss a source of despair, or an opportunity to grow in faith and make room for God to dwell in my heart?

I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow morning to continue reflecting together!