The Fifth Station, Simon of Cyrene helps carry Jesus’ Cross

A Sharing in Sacrifice

A stranger’s hands, reluctant, pressed
against the weight of wood and wounds,
his steps uneasy, shoulders bent,
compelled to bear what was not his.

Did mercy move within his chest
as splinters bit into his skin?
Did sorrow carve its solemn mark
while standing near the suffering Christ?

He unknowingly passed by,
the Roman hands seized his life
and turned his path toward the Cross.

But as he walked, the weight grew light,
or was it love that bore it so?
The Son of Man beside him sighed,
and Simon knew, this yoke was joy.

For what is burden if not grace
when laid upon the humbled heart?
To walk with Christ, to share His pain,
is to be shaped into His own.

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Let us pray:

You could have carried the Cross alone,
but You let Simon bear its weight,
a grace wrapped in burden, a calling veiled in sweat.

I, too, shrink from the heaviness of suffering,
still You place it upon my shoulders,
not to break me, but to bring me near to You.
Help me to walk beside You, not in dread, but in love.
Let me see the gift in the burden, the nearness in the weight.

May my hands, reluctant as Simon’s,
be opened by grace, that in carrying another’s cross,
I might find myself carried by You. Amen.